31 suspected cultists arrested while preparing for initiation ceremony

Dipo Ojegbayi, 27, Mohammed Haruna, 26, Babatunde Afolabi, 27 and Usman, are all undergraduates of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Yaba.

They are among 31 suspected cultists arrested recently during a raid on their hideout by policemen in Lagos.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects were rounded up by detectives while they were preparing to go for an initiation ceremony for new members.

Owoseni explained that the arrest was part of the command’s efforts at clamping down on suspected cult groups and their sponsors.

Police investigations revealed that the suspects were members of the Eiye Confraternity.

In his confessional statement, Usman, who is the leader of the group, said, “I was introduced to the group by a girl I met at a party. After the party, some guys came to my hostel and gave me the beating of my life. At the end of the beating, which I thought would not end, they warned me never to go near the girl again. I became angry and called my friend who was a cultist. I told him I was ready to be one of them. That was how I joined and rose to be the number one.

“I have gone for several missions and beaten up many rival cult members, but I never killed. I stopped being a member and these guys only came to meet me that day to assist them with the initiation.”

However, another member of the group, Dipo, debunked his statement, insisting that Usman is the leader of the gang. He said that members often met to discuss pressing issues in a primary school around Akoka area.

“We are all members, and he is the Capon. I joined them recently and never knew there was going to be an initiation that night,” he said.

Another member of the group, Haruna said, “It was Usman, also known as Capon that invited us. I was initially reluctant, but when I saw the outline of cutlasses and guns in a polythene bag, I agreed to go with them,” he said.

The police said that during interrogation, one of the suspects admitted that the guns and cutlasses were stolen from a shrine at Okorodu, where he had gone to worship.