The police in Ogun State have arrested eight suspected cultists in different parts of Ifo Local Government Area for alleged murder.
The suspected cultists were members of the Eiye and Aiye cult groups suspected to be involved in the death of a notorious cultist popularly known as Ofada.
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The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in Abeokuta on Tuesday.
He said the command on Sunday clamped down on members of the cult groups who engaged in a supremacy battle in the Ifo area of the state.
He said the battle claimed the life of one of them simply identified as Ofada who was shot dead by rival cultists.
According to Oyeyemi, a distress call was made to the police in Ifo divisional headquarters and the DPO, CSP Adekunle Adeniyi, led his men to the scene where they met two others with gunshot injuries.
He added that “the DPO and his men subsequently traced the rampaging cultists to Iyana Coker area where three amongst them – Soji Olamilekan, 29, Shobande Olalekan, 26, and Solomon Fadebi 33 – were arrested.
“On interrogation, they told the police that other members had fled to the Osuke area of Onipanu Ota where they were planning to launch another attack.
“Based on the information, the DPO Onipanu division was contacted and he moved to Osuke where he met a group of cultists holding a meeting in a bush.
“On sighting the policemen, the hoodlums took to their heels but they were chased and with the assistance of the youths in the area four of the cultists – Balogun Oluwaseun, 22, Joseph Onwe, 24, Peter Raphael, 22 and Yusuf Emmanuel, 26 – were apprehended.”
Oyeyemi further said that while investigation was going on, information got to the police that one of the cultists was seen receiving treatment for gun-shot injury in Arobiye village, Ota.
He said the DPO Onipanu moved in and got the suspect, 22-year-old Toheeb Olorunkemi, arrested.
The PPRO said the suspect “confessed to participating in the Ifo crisis in which he sustained gunshot injury.
Items recovered from the suspects were one locally made pistol, six live cartridges; four different types of handsets; one black beret and a small bag.
“The corpse of the slain cultist has been recovered and taken to the general hospital mortuary Ifo, and those injured have been taken to the same general hospital for medical care.”
He said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered the transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.
The PPRO added that the CP also ordered a manhunt for the remaining members of the groups in order to put their notorious activities to an end.
