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Supremacy clashes: Cultists kill undergraduate, tiler in Lagos
Supremacy clashes: Cultists kill undergraduate, tiler in Lagos
Supremacy clashes involving members of the Aiye and the Eiye confraternities at Ijanikin, in the Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State, have led to the deaths of two persons including an undergraduate of the Lagos State University, Kamoru Lasisi, and a tiler, Lateef Atanda.
PUNCH Metro gathered that members of the cult groups had been engaging one another in a series of clashes for over two months, a situation that had been creating tension in the community.
During the clashes, our correspondent learnt that the cultists usually engaged themselves with weapons including guns, cutlasses, and machetes, among others, and had created strongholds that had been threatening the lives and property of residents and business owners plying their trades in the community.
Speaking with our correspondent, a resident in the area, who refused to mention his name for security reasons, said aside from the cultists killing one another, the threats induced by their activities had degenerated to the point of them killing innocent members of the community.
The resident said, “The cultists’ attacks in my area are a major concern; initially, they usually go after one another, but now, what they do is go after people that are not cultists in the community. The clashes involve members of the Aiye and Eiye cult groups and each of the groups has a territory in the community that they control.
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“In Ijanikin, Aiye cultists are in charge of Alasia down to Adio, Ayetoro, and Ketu areas, but Oto, Cele and Ile Oba Bus Stops, and some parts of Adio are controlled by the Eiye cult groups. Two weeks ago, Aiye cultists stormed the Cele Bus Stop area and shot a 400-level undergraduate of LASU, Kamoru Lasisi. He was shot dead in front of his father’s house despite not being a cultist.
“About two months ago, around 7.50pm, Aiye cultists came to the territory of Eiye cultists to attack a rival and did not meet their target. What they did next was to attack and kill an innocent boy, Lateef Atanda, who just finished writing his WAEC and does tiling business.
“The boy was shot dead on Ago-Idosa Street, Vespa Bus Stop, in the presence of his father, who was pleading with the cultists not to kill him. He was not a cultist and people in the area testified to it. There is always a reprisal for these attacks and it causes unconfirmed killings in the community.”
Another resident in the community who spoke anonymously to our correspondent for security reasons, while lamenting over the development, said the cultists usually assume that anyone found around their targets were cultists and go after them when they could not get their main targets.
The resident said, “The Aiye and Eiye cultists are hunting one another in the community, and when they are doing so, whoever they see with their targets, they don’t bother to do any fact findings to know if the person is a cultist or not, they just attack and kill the person.
“They operate with guns and other weapons. People are afraid in the Ijanikin community. The painful thing is that we know these cultists in the community as they are not strangers. So, whenever people see them appear in the community, they start running for their lives because they know that an attack can happen at any time.
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“Initially, we usually face the cultists to chase them away but we stopped as we don’t have the necessary support. The cultists know the policemen at Ijanikin Police Station and get the information whenever they are coming for a raid and flee the community. We want the police command to bring in external policemen to work with us to do an underground operation to arrest these cultists as we are willing to lead them to their hideouts in Ijanikin.”
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “The Commissioner of Police, upon assumption of duty in Lagos State, identified cultism as a major problem in the state and that informed his decision to decentralise our tactical unit by deploying the unit out of the state command and stationed at different parts of the state including Badagry which covers Ijankin and they have started work.
“We are aware that cultism is on the high side in Ijanikin but in the coming days or weeks, there should be a sharp decline in the activities of cultists in that area.”
Meanwhile, unrest and killings occasioned by the activities of cultists had been sending shivers down the spines of residents and business owners in the state.
On Wednesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, during a parade of 42 suspected cultists at the command headquarters in the Ikeja area of the state, said he created a special unit to frontally address the emerging threats posed by cultists in the state.
Noting that the 42 suspects were arrested during intelligence-led operations in Ijora, Orile, Ebute Meta, and Ikorodu areas, Owohunwa said the preliminary investigations revealed that the cultists’ supporters or networks had developed the capacity to locally fabricate semi-automatic and automatic shotguns.
“Our investigations are not only focused on identifying other members of these networks but to also get to the root of the fabricators of these dangerous weapons,” he added.
metro
Explosion in Yobe, three people hospitalised
Explosion in Yobe, three people hospitalised
At least 3 persons have been hospitalised after an undetonated Improvised Explosive Device exploded in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.
The explosion took place on Saturday at Ngomari Community in Buni Yadi, headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area.
A reliable source in the area told Daily Trust that the incident happened when a 22-year-old discovered live ammunition and four AK47 rounds while fetching firewood in the bush.
“The young man attempted to open the ammunition out of curiosity.
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“He proceeded to strike the ammunition with a hammer, which triggered an explosion. 3 persons including the young man sustained various degrees of injury,” the source said.
Confirming the incident, the Secretary of the Local Metal Fabricators Association, Gujba LG, Malam Isyaku Dahiru, said the victims were moved to Yobe State Specialist Hospital Buni Yadi for urgent treatment.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Public Relations Officer of the Yobe State Police Command, SP Dungus Abdulkarim, were not successful as he did not pick his calls and was yet to reply to the calls as at the time of filing this report.
Boko Haram terrorists have been using IEDs to launch attacks on communities in the area.
Explosion in Yobe, three people hospitalised
metro
Rivers: Presidency reveals security intelligence leading to emergency rule
Rivers: Presidency reveals security intelligence leading to emergency rule
The Presidency has revealed that security intelligence reports led to the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and elected members of the State House of Assembly.
According to the government, militants were already targeting oil pipelines, posing a serious threat to national security and the economy.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, disclosed this in an article titled “Imagine Rivers State Without a State of Emergency”, published on Sunday.
He maintained that intelligence reports showed an escalating crisis in the oil-rich state.
President Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, explained that his efforts to mediate the political conflict in Rivers had been ignored. He stated that worsening security threats necessitated the declaration of a state of emergency.
“The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today, there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants, without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course, given stern orders to the security agencies to ensure the safety of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines,” Tinubu said while announcing the emergency rule.
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The decision has drawn criticism from various quarters, with many questioning its necessity. However, the Presidency has defended the move, insisting it was based on credible security intelligence.
Onanuga explained that Section 305 of the Constitution empowers the President to act when there is a threat to law, order, or economic security.
“Impeachment threats might have spurred attacks on lawmakers by the governor’s supporters, while militants in the creeks—primed to sabotage critical oil infrastructure—could have plunged Nigeria’s oil production back to pre-2023 lows,” he stated.
He further alleged that militants were awaiting instructions from Fubara before launching attacks on pipelines.
“Intelligence confirmed that militants, told by Fubara to await signals, were already targeting pipelines, risking a collapse in output and a Niger-Delta domino effect,” Onanuga added.
According to him, Tinubu’s intervention was crucial, as Rivers State is a key player in Nigeria’s oil sector. He warned that any disruption in the region could have dire economic consequences.
He dismissed claims that the emergency rule undermines democracy, arguing that it is a “temporary, surgical” measure aimed at restoring order rather than replacing democratic institutions.
Rivers: Presidency reveals security intelligence leading to emergency rule
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Shehu Sani faults senators taking voice vote objection to media
Shehu Sani faults senators taking voice vote objection to media
A former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District has slammed lawmakers for going to the media to raise objections against the adoption of voice voting for the confirmation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
Shehu Sani said that any lawmaker who wished to raise such an objection ought to have done so in the chambers of the National Assembly and not the media.
Recall that members of the National Assembly had voted on the proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers by President Bola Tinubu.
However, rather than adhere to the provisions of the law by taking a head count to determine that the Assembly had formed a quorum, the leadership of both chambers adopted voice voting.
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Shortly after the voting process which was condemned by many including Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and the Peoples Democratic Party among others, Ireti Kingibe, a serving lawmaker condemned the process.
In his reaction, to this Sani said all objections should be done within the chambers, not outside or in the media.
He wrote on X, “If any lawmaker had issues with voice votes or quorum, he or she is supposed to raise a point of order on the floor and insist on being heard; and not be silent in the chamber then come to the media to raise objections.
“If there is no quorum, it’s because some lawmakers deliberately chose to abstain,” Sani noted.
Shehu Sani faults senators taking voice vote objection to media
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