Police wage war on cultists in Ilasa

In what might have deteriorated into total chaos and mayhem if not for the timely intervention of the police, arrests have been made of the leaders of the Eiye and Aiye confraternities that declared war on each other, almost turning Ilasa into a battle zone.

According to residents, trouble allegedly started when a yet-to-be-identified Aiye cult member was found murdered and his badly mutilated body was dumped at Ogunbowale junction in Ilasa, last week.

According to Abereijo Alani, the Baale of Ilasamaja, they called the police who swung into action and arrested four people at Maloby Hotel in connection with the crime.

According to him, the murdered man was not a resident of Ilasa, but was chased from Itire before being cornered at Ilasa where he was hacked to death.

The arrested boys were found with gang insignia, guns, ammunitions and charms and were handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

“Matters, however, took a turn this week as one Emeka Ihuoma, identified as the leader of Aiye confraternity, mobilized three others to go and attack one Jaiye (surname withheld) at his lotto kiosk on Temitope Street.

This was around 5:00pm in the evening. We got information that they were about to strike and were mobilizing from a place called Bola in Isolo.

That place is very notorious and has been a hotbed for criminals for long.

We tipped off the police who swung into action and double-crossed them as they were coming from shooting the young man.

“On sighting the police, Emeka ran into a nearby house and ditched the gun he used during the shooting.

But because some of us in the community work with the police, we hinted them on the location of the gun and on getting there, it was found.

The boy has been terrorising the community for a long time now, we have it on good information that he has a visa for Germany to go and join his father but he has refused to go; instead he remains here, constituting a nuisance to all of us.

The boy that was shot is a member of the Eiye cult and was just rival killings and a show of power, he didn’t do anything,” Alani narrated.

Engineer Asunmo, one of the CDA Chairmen in Ilasa told The Guardian that the former leader of the Eiye Cult, known as Kanmi, was arrested last year after hacking someone to death.

“However, to our utmost dismay, we discovered that he was released and is back in the community now, terrorising the residents.

It is almost unbelievable to say this but the shocking part of the whole thing is that some people in this same community donated money and went and bailed him from Kirikiri prison in February this year.

Immediately he came back, he went to attack a rival cult member and matcheted him almost to the point of death.”

Revealing that three streets were the headquarters of the criminals, he revealed them to be Temitope, Ogunbowale and Duada Oseni, insisting that the landlords and parents of these criminals were aware of their activities but continued to shield them.

The duo revealed that two locally-made pistols and nine rounds of rifle ammunition were recovered from Emeka’s hideout.

The hideout was the home of their herbalist known as Adio, also a member of the Eiye confraternity and was promptly arrested by the police while the guns, ammunitions and charms were confiscated.

“They were arrested and have been handed over to SARS and their arrest has led to many other arrests.

Even the leader of Eiye, Sadiq, has been arrested as well and is with SARS.

When he was arrested and interrogated, he gave us the names of other key members of the gang including Tiny, Kanmi, Pastor, Sparko, Lagos, Anayo, Fifty, Henro, Lati, Jide, Next, T-Boy, T-God, Bayanon and Say Black.

We know these are aliases but we are imploring people that know these boys to give them up peacefully because they will be hunted down and arrested no matter what.”

Dismissing online reports that claimed that the police were watching helplessly as the boys were going on rampage, Abereijo denied this false allegation, praising the prompt response of the police, which restored calm to the area.

“All the reports online are false I can categorically tell you.

They claimed five people were killed and when the police came, they were picking up any young man they see.

All these are false as just one person was shot and the people that were arrested were all gang members and cultists.

They only claim to be innocent to whip up sympathy but most of them have already started confessing and giving us useful information.

These boys want to give this place a bad name and make the police look useless but we will make this place too hot for them.

“Enough is enough with these cult clashes in this area, they have to relocate or change their ways.

They refuse to work, instead they engage in robbery and cultism and their guardians are aware.

We called a community town hall and stakeholders meeting, warning parents and guardians to control their children, as they are the ones responsible for the mayhem.

If they refuse to heed, we will begin to take drastic measures against them.”

Refuting reports that the boys returned later that night to resume shooting passers- by, he said the gun shots that people heard was gun salute given to the DPO of Ilasa Police Station because of her efforts at eradicating cultism in Ilasa.