Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Ogun State Police Command on Thursday, paraded 42 suspected secret cult members who allegedly played significant roles in various cult clashes that claimed scores of lives, as well as disrupting the peace across the state in recent times.
This is just as the Command disclosed that a total number of 93 suspected cultists from different confraternity groups arrested between March, 2022 till date are currently undergoing prosecution in the state.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this yesterday while parading 42 suspects arrested whose crimes ranged from murder, to kidnapping, raping among others.
Among the suspected criminals paraded yesterday was a 29-year-old fake kidnap victim, Segun Mafimidowo, who connived with some of his friends to demand for a sum of N8 million ransom from his parents under the pretense that he had been kidnapped by some unknown gunmen from Sagamu area of the state.
“He also sent picture where he was tied on both hands. The purported abductors later sent an account number of one Ogbu Abraham which he directed the parents to pay the ransom to. But the Anti Kidnapping section of the command embarked on technical based investigation which led to where Segun Mafimidowo and his so-called abductors, who are all his friends were hibernating.”
Oyeyemi, who explained that the harvest of secret cult members was part of the relentless efforts of the command at checkmating activities of cultists in the state, also paraded the trio of an 18-year-old Daniel Njoku; 21-year-old Damilare Ogundiran and Olamilekan Adebayo for allegedly abducting a 15-year-old girl sent on errand by her parents, raped her turn-by-turn before they later forcefully initiated her into their secret cult group.
He explained that the war against cultism, which has continued to yield positive results was a demonstration of the commitment of the command towards ensuring that the state was free of criminals, particularly on it’s earlier statement towards ensuring that the “7/7” Confraternity Anniversary in the state does not hold.
“We are still not relenting in getting other members of these dreaded groups out of circulation, in order to allow the law abiding citizens to sleep with their two eyes closed. I, hereby, appeal to parents and guardians to call their wards to order as this command will be rolling out all in its arsenal to wage war against all would-be-criminals, particularly the cultists among them.”