A 40-year-old man, alleged to be a member of a cult group, was shot dead on Sunday, January 19, 2025, in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

According to eyewitness accounts, the deceased was attacked by two masked gunmen who fled the scene after carrying out the act.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, CSP Funmilayo Odunlami, revealed in a statement made available to journalists that the deceased had been on the police’s wanted list for multiple criminal activities.

Odunlami stated that the man was a known participant in the 2020 EndSARS protest, during which he allegedly attacked a police station, stealing an AK-47 rifle and a bulletproof vest. Additionally, she noted that the deceased was implicated in the murder of a local resident, further solidifying his notoriety within the community.

“The remains of the suspect have been deposited at a hospital morgue in the town,” Odunlami disclosed, adding that the police have launched an investigation to track down the perpetrators of the shooting.

The killing comes just weeks after the Ondo State Government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Owo due to escalating violence between rival cult groups. The clashes, which claimed four lives, had prompted heightened security measures in the area..

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Police authorities in the state confirmed the incident last Friday, stating that an investigation has been initiated to unveil the masterminds behind this horrifying act.

“Management of Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State has commenced investigation into the killing of Miss Toyin Bamidele, an HND 1 Food Technology student of the institution by some unknown assailants,” the institution’s acting spokesperson, Folake Oyinloye, reported.

“The incident was received with rude shock, involving the murder of Bamidele, who was allegedly hacked to death in her rented apartment on Thursday, 16 November 2023.”

The other victim is reported to be the leader of a cult group and was fatally attacked within the school’s premises.

Toyin, rumoured to be the girlfriend of the leader of a rival group, was trailed to her residence in the Dapson area of the town.

She was washing her clothes at her residence located at Dapson Hostel (a private hostel) along the Atari area of the institution’s mini campus when the assailants came and mauled her to death.

Further findings suggest that the deaths might be connected with the now-popular “Sign out” ceremony – a celebration at the end of the academic session by graduating students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

However, in some schools, it has turned into wartime with clashes between rival cult groups.

“In a show of retaliation, the deceased was said to have been pounced on by the rival cult group while washing her clothes at her residence and hacked to death,” a source, who pleaded anonymity, revealed.

A resident of the area, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “When we heard the sound of the invasion, some of us had to run for our safety.

“But at the end of the attack, which lasted about fifteen minutes, when we got to her room, we discovered the lifeless body of the deceased and then informed the appropriate authorities of the incident.”

Meanwhile, the remains of the two victims have been deposited at the morgue of General Hospital in Offa for autopsy.

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The distraught mother is crying out to the Ogun State Government to help save her only son, Ayodeji, from the operatives of the Amotekun corps, who she said shot him on May 24.

While speaking with newsmen at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, where Ayodeji is being treated, Eweje called for an investigation into the whole scenario and to help salvage the leg of her son from being amputated.

The victim, speaking on his sick bed, said the incident happened when he went to watch the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun when he commissioned the Adigbe-Panseke road in Abeokuta.

“I just returned from South Africa where I had gone to seek greener pastures but on getting to Abeokuta, I saw that the whole thing has changed, and I was excited with the transformation at my area in Adigbe, I decided to take a stroll that fateful day, and as fate would have it, it was the day the governor was commissioning the Panseke-Adigbe road

“I joined other onlookers at the overhead bridge at Panseke when the law enforcement officers told us to leave, I obeyed, but maybe the man thought I was not fast enough, he gripped me and handed me over to the Amotekun corps. After the event, rather than letting me go, the Amotekun men took me to their office at Oke-Ilewo without telling me what my offence was.

“It was in their custody that I was also taken to Imeko, in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State.”

Ayodeji said he did not know any particular reason why the Amotekun men shot him in the leg.

“What I can remember was that on a certain Sunday evening, I was told to come out and on getting out, an officer told me to climb the roof for a certain repair of the office. While doing that, another one came and shot at me, alleging that I wanted to escape from custody,” he explained.

Ayodeji narrated further that he was kept in a dark room for about three months without being charged to court or handed over to the police.

He added that the corps did not allow him to inform his family of his whereabouts, not until recently.

In her words, Ayodeji’s mother appealed to the state government to help in the payment for the treatment of the leg.

She told journalists that she had been searching for her son since May 24 without any clue as to where he was.

However, the woman said somebody who claimed to be calling from the Amotekun office informed her that Ayodeji, her son was in their custody and needed help.

“It was around August that the person called, we quickly rushed to their office at Oke-Ilewo but were told that nothing like that happened. We were told that Ayodeji was not with them.

“Again, a week later, the person called with another number, saying that we need to save my son or he may be tagged a cultist or kidnapper, and get killed. This time around, we were worried, we sought for assistance of a human right lawyer, who helped to petition the Commissioner of Police.

It was through the police that we were able to know that truly, Ayodeji was with the Amotekun Corps and was taken to their Imeko-Afon office for a reason known to them,” she stated.

Mrs Eweje added that the first time she set eyes on her son on his hospital bed, with his leg badly damaged, she cried bitterly.

She said the Amotekun Corps could not provide any answer when she asked why her son was treated that way without informing the family, the police or better still taking the matter to court since May 24.

“Now, they have destroyed his leg, he can not walk again. They just abandoned him there at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta without taking care of his hospital bills.

“The hospital is asking us to pay millions of Naira. The Amotekun is not paying a dime, the hospital also threatened to discharge him if by Tuesday we don’t pay. I know why they are doing this to me, it’s because we are poor and have nobody to fight for us,” she said.

Reacting, the Ogun State Commander of the Amotekun Corps David Akinremi, said Ayodeji and his gang had been on the wanted list of the corps for a long time.

Akinremi, a retired Commissioner of Police said Ayodeji was a notorious cultist, who had been tormenting the Adigbe area of Abeokuta for a long time.

“When he was apprehended at Panseke during the commissioning of Panseke Adigbe road by the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun and handed over to us, he was taken into our custody and we began an investigation into his past deeds. It was during the investigation that he escaped to Imeko, where he was apprehended again.

“We tried to profile him again but in the process, he wanted to escape through the ceiling of the custody he was kept in. It was then our personnel shot at his leg, and immediately we took him to hospital for treatment,” the Commander said.

He said the command had been responsible for the victim’s treatment and would ensure that he is okay before he is taken to court.

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