The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 11 students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, over their alleged involvement in cult-related activities.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Olayinka Ayanlade, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Friday, saying the arrests followed credible intelligence received by the police.

According to Ayanlade, operatives of the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit were deployed after intelligence revealed that members of the notorious Eiye confraternity had converged at hideouts in the Under-G, Yuako and Adenike areas of Ogbomoso.
He said the suspects were allegedly planning coordinated attacks within the student community that could have triggered widespread unrest.

“Acting on credible intelligence received by the command, operatives of the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit were deployed after it was established that members of the dreaded Eiye confraternity had converged at their hideout within the Under-G, Yuako and Adenike areas, where they were allegedly perfecting plans to launch coordinated attacks within the student community capable of causing widespread unrest,” the statement read.

The police said the operatives swiftly stormed the identified locations, foiled the alleged planned attacks and arrested 11 male suspects.

A search of the suspects and their hideouts led to the recovery of four locally fabricated cut-to-size pistols, 11 live cartridges, one expended cartridge, two cult axes, one cutlass, one dagger knife and a red cult hooded cap.

According to the police, the suspects voluntarily confessed to being members of the Eiye confraternity while in custody.

Preliminary investigations also linked them to various cult-related criminal activities, including alleged involvement in murder.
The command further confirmed that all 11 suspects are students of LAUTECH.

The police said investigations are ongoing and assured residents of its commitment to sustaining efforts to rid the state of cultism and other violent crimes.