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Supremacy clashes: Cultists kill undergraduate, tiler in Lagos

Published

1 year ago

April 24, 2023

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.

Related Topics:Cultists Lagos Supremacy undergraduate

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Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’

Published

11 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Trends Admin

A soldier of the Nigerian Army, Lcpl Ojo Tope has died in an accident in Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.

According to a report by SaharaReporters, multiple sources said the deceased attached to the 322 Artillery regiment in Benin City was on his way to meet policemen who had allegedly arrested his brother illegally.

The incident occurred around 10 pm on Wednesday.

The policemen attached to Ikere Area Command had reportedly illegally detained Ojo’s brother and after talking to him on the phone, Ojo was asked to come to their checkpoint and identify himself as a soldier.

SaharaReporters learnt that on his way to the checkpoint, Ojo was involved in an accident.

A relative of the deceased told the online newspaper that : “A soldier (Ojo Tope) serving in Benin City came home on a pass in Ikere Ekiti. Around 10 pm on Wednesday, he realised there was no fuel in their generator. So, he sent his younger brother who has a car to get fuel for him.

“However, on his way to get the fuel, the guy met some policemen on the road and they arrested him illegally. They asked him why he was driving at that time and asked him to unlock his phone as well but he refused.

“He pleaded with them that it was his soldier brother who sent him to buy fuel but they refused to let him go. So, he later called the soldier to talk to the policemen and one of them asked him to come and meet them. Sadly, on his way there on a bike, he had an accident.

“After the accident, people rushed him down to where the policemen seized the brother’s car and they pleaded with them to release the car so they could use it to rescue the soldier to the state hospital in Ikere but they refused to release the vehicle.

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“They later got another one to carry the soldier to the hospital. Unfortunately, before they would get to the hospital, the soldier gave up. His body is now in the morgue.”

The family source said some residents who heard about Ojo’s death got angry and wanted to protest against the actions of the policemen but the family calmed them down.

When SaharaReporters contacted the spokesperson for Ekiti State Police Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, denied the role allegedly played by the policemen in the death of Ojo.

He said, “This could be termed ‘a lie from the pit of hell’ as no such incident or report was made in any of our stations across the state, not even the headquarters.

“The only vehicle that was confiscated by our surveillance team from Ikere Area Command on Wednesday night was an unregistered Toyota Camry 2006 model car. The driver had no document and could not give satisfactory proof that the vehicle belonged to him, but then offered to go home and get the documents.

“Up till this moment, the driver did not bring the car documents or come for his vehicle. It should be noted that our surveillance teams do not have or create checkpoints.

“No soldier’s death was reported by anybody or family or the military authority in the state in Ikere Area Command or any of our divisions or formations across the state in recent time and nobody has come to solicit for the release of the said Toyota Camry car.”

“Meanwhile, anyone with any genuine complaint against the conduct of our men should feel free to approach the nearest police station, formation, office of the PPRO or office of the Commissioner of Police for necessary and immediate action,” Abutu added.

Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’

metro

Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many

Published

12 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Bello Matawalle

Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many

Rampaging bandits operating in North-West Nigeria have attacked Maradun town, the headquarters of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara, killing one person and kidnapping several others.

Maradun is the hometown of Bello Matawalle, the former governor of the state and present Minister of State for Defence in the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.

Although, police authorities in the state are yet to comment on the latest incident an indigene of the town Nura Maradun told Channels Television that the bandits stormed the town around 1 am on Friday with sophisticated weapons.

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He said they fired indiscriminately to scare residents. According to him, the bandits went from house to house to abduct residents of the town.

“They came in around 1 am and operated till 4 am unchallenged. They went on to search house by house looking for people to be kidnapped,” he said.

“From what I can confirm to you now, one person was killed, and about eight persons most women have been taken away. Some of the women kidnapped are daughters of the Emir’s brother.”

Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many

metro

Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra

Published

12 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra

The Anambra command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says it has arrested eight suspected unlicensed private security guards with four pump action guns.

During the parade of the suspects in Awka, the state capital on Thursday, Olatunde Maku, the NSCDC state commandant, said the arrest was made in response to intelligence reports.

Maku added that the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that some of the suspects were impersonating the Anambra Vigilance Group while others were hired by hotels to provide security services, in spite of knowing that the outfits were not licensed or registered,” NAN quoted the NSCDC commandant as saying.

“Meanwhile, four pump action guns with 16 live cartridges were also recovered from them.

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“All the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.

“This raid is in continuation of the execution of the NSCDC mandate and we will not leave any stone unturned in discharging our responsibilities.

Maku said that the NSCDC is the only agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, and supervising private securities companies in Nigeria, and the raid aims to prevent illegal security outfit proliferation.

The commandant urged licensed private guard companies to adhere to the law and report any suspicious activities or security outfits to the Corps for prompt action.

“I want to put all illegal security outfits on notice to dismantle their operations or face the consequences.

“We will clamp down on any illegal outfit, arrest and prosecute their operators, and recover illegal weapons in their possession.

“This is to restore sanity in the operations of the private security sector and ensure the safety and security of residents.”