Operatives of Nigeria Police Force in Ogun State, on Sunday, arrested and paraded 150 suspects for alleged armed robbery and cultism in some parts of Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state.
There had been series of complaints of armed robbery and cult activities by residents of Owode, Ilepa, Ifo, Arigbajo, Dalemo, Ijoko, Joju, Sango, Akute, Itoki, Ogba-Ayo, Ota, Ifo, Agbado- Ijaiye, among other communities in Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state.
Speaking at the parade of the suspects at the Ifo Divisional Police Statelion, Kenneth Ebrimson, Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Police Command, having conducted journalists round the troubled areas where the suspects were arrested, debunked the report that armed robbers had taken over some parts of Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state.
The Commissioner of Police said it was a case of cult clashes among seven rival groups within the areas as a result of the killing of one of them which degenerated into some armed robbers’ attacks in the said areas, explaining that upon the receipt of information about the clashes, the Command swung into action and made some arrests.
Ebrimson, who noted that the Command deployed men from Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Anti-Cultism Unit, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Special Forces and Conventional Policemen that were drawn from the Area Commands in Ifo and Ota, the Police said that 8 locally made guns, 52 live cartridges, 8 knives, 12 handsets, 2 scissors, large quantity of weeds, several cutlases, one axe and a saw.
The Police boss said that the unrest was caused by seven cult groups that included Ilena boys, Federal boys, Lemon boys, Base boys, Sahara boys, Gbese boys and Marindoti boys.
“The Genesis of this was from some criminal gangs that engaged in supremacy battle in Ifo and spread to Ado-Odo/Ota local government area of the state.
“It started on April 4, and the Command tactical operation arrested some hoodlums and ammunitions.
“I want to say that there was no single case of armed robbery, no case of kidnapping has been reported. Nobody has been killed. The basic issue is cultism that emanated from the killing of one of them in Ifo and spread to Sango, Ijoko and Agbado”, he said.
