At least 13 suspected cultists, comprising 10 students of tertiary institutions, bricklayer, one trailer motorboy and a marijuana seller were arrested by the Oyo State Police
Command during initiation of new members in Saki, Oke-Ogun axis of the state.
The cultists were among the 30 suspects paraded on Thursday by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Shina Olukolu, at Eleyele, Ibadan, the state capital.
Items recovered from the suspects include 3, 519 ammunition, two arms, 24 bags of corn, 20 telephone handsets, two cutlasses, three knives, one sledge hammer, and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp, and foreign currency among others.
According to the state Commissioner of Police, the names of the suspected cultists are Aremu Ayodele, 21, of Computer Science National Diploma II, The Polytechnic Ibadan; Adebayo Emmanuel, 23, of Political Science Department, University of Ibadan; Precious Ebuka, 21, of Agricultural Economic Department, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State; and Busari Hammed, 27, of Business Administration Department, National Open University (NOUN).
Six purported students of Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, namely Raheem Jamiu, 21, of Accountancy ND II; Adeniran Oluwasegun, 21, of Business Administration ND II; Olatunji Kehinde, 22, of Public Administration, HND I; Akinola Tola, 23, of Accountancy HND I; Kolapo Israel, 21, of Public Administration HND II; and Koleoso Samson, 23, of Agricultural Engineering, ND II.
Also, Yekini Kazeem, 23, alleged dealer on trailer parts and weeds; Oyesoro Damilola, 25, a trailer motorboy; and Sanusi Mutiu, 23, who is said to be a bricklayer were among the three non-students.
During the parade, the state Commissioner of Polices explained, “On May 1, 2019, at about 17:30hours, information was received at Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operational base, Saki that some members of a notorious secret confraternity, who have been inflicting various acts of violence and nefarious criminal activities on members of the public in Saki town and other areas in Oke Ogun axis of Oyo State, were sighted in their hideout beside Nighles Hotel in Saki.
“They had gathered to initiate new members into the secret confraternity. Based on this credible information, a team of SARS operatives headed by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Olusola Aremu, was quickly drafted to the area and in the process, 10 members of the cult group, who confessed to be members of Eiye Confraternity were arrested. Three other members of the group who managed to escape were later arrested in Ibadan.”
One of the suspects, Olatunji Kehinde, confessed further, “I am a cultist. We were having a meeting when we were arrested. It is not true that we wanted to do initiation when we were arrested because everybody at the meeting was already initiated. We all belong to Eiye Confraternity. I joined the group last year.”
Items recovered from the suspected cultists included one Jack knife, one live cartridge, two black caps, criminal charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.
The Police Chief in the state said investigation was still ongoing to arrest other fleeing members of the group.
