Cultists graduate into armed robbers, kidnappers – Lagos CP warns parents

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, has advised parents and guardians to be mindful of the friends their children relate with, saying most hardened criminals begin life into crime by joining dangerous cult groups in their neighbourhoods.

Odumosu gave the advice yesterday when speaking on the arrest of 98 persons for various crimes they allegedly committed in the Lagos metropolis between July and August 2020.

The Lagos State police chief mentioned the activities of cultists as one of the grave challenges confronting the police, adding that there was no area in the state that did not have, at least, four different cult confraternities whose members eventually graduated into becoming either armed robbers, kidnappers or rapists.

"Cultism has been discovered to be responsible for most robberies in the state. Cult activities have assumed a worrisome dimension owing to constant clashes among their members during which they brandish dangerous weapons like guns, axes, cutlasses and broken bottles.

"Most times, they hijack the situation to loot shops and dispossess innocent residents of cash and other valuables. There had been reported cases of rape, vicious attacks on passersby and killing of rival cultists.

“Many of them had been sent to their early graves during such clashes, while others sustained indelible scars, yet their reign of terror in communities they live has remained unabated.”

Odumosu revealed that clashes between the Aiye and Eiye cult groups had claimed many lives in areas like Ajah, Epe, Ikorodu, Jakande estate, Bariga, Oworonsoki, Isolo, BadiaIjora, Itire, Ojo and Badagry.

He added that the Lagos State Police Command had always been on the trail of some key cultists.