Police arrest 46 suspected cultists in Lagos

LAGOS State Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has arrested 46 suspected members of the Awawa Confraternity, which included six women.

Members of the Awawa cult group have reportedly held Agege and its environs hostage for months, robbing and raping their victims.

The cultists, who are identified by similar tattoo symbols beside their eyes, on their backs and hands, usually moved in scores to unleash terror on their victims.

It was gathered that the suspects were nabbed on Saturday morning, during a three-hour operation led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Timothy Ojetunde of RRS.

Security operatives were said to have responded swiftly to a tip-off from two victims who were dispossessed of their valuables in Agidingbi towards Omole and Akilo roads.

The operation was said to have been triggered by complaints from residents on the activities of the hoodlums around Agege, Ogba and Agidingbi, Ifako-Ijaiye, Iyana Ipaja and Abule Egba.

It was gathered that the suspects who attempted to resist arrest by pelting security agents with stones, threatened to make life unbearable for the policemen.

According to a police source: “Frequent complaints had come from residents alleging that some group of young boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 22 years, were making lives difficult for residents and disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in Agege and its environs, we were also inundated with information that they equally rape, loot, snatch and dispossess law-abiding citizens of their belongings.

“During their recent attack along Agindigbi Road, we were able to arrest 46 of them including 6 females while others manage to escape. Having studied their black spots and operating camps around Agege and its environs, from several petitions received by the policemen from the residents of the area, we carried out a special operation on the areas identified as their hideouts.

“Before we could make arrest these suspects, they engaged us in a fight, stoning us with pebbles and broken bottles but our men remained unshaken.”

“On arrival at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, the suspects were still threatening to make life unbearable for policemen, shouting vociferously that no one can arrest them and go scot-free.”