Police in Ogun State have successfully apprehended 62 suspected cultists within a 15-day crackdown on cult activities terrorizing various communities.
The arrests, carried out by different police units between January 14 and 28, revealed that 52 of the apprehended individuals claimed membership in the Alora confraternity, one in the Aye confraternity, five in the Eye confraternity, while four others belonged to an unidentified group.
The State Police Commissioner, Abiodun Alamutu, disclosed this information while parading the suspected criminals at the State Police Command in Eleweran, Abeokuta.
Notably, a major breakthrough occurred on January 27, when 52 Alora confraternity members, including some females, were arrested by operatives of the Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT) at a hotel in Ifo, near Abeokuta, during an initiation ceremony.
Some managed to escape by jumping the hotel fence.
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Items recovered from the suspects included needles, T-shirts with Alora inscriptions, three vehicles, and 58 cell phones.
Subsequent operations on January 28 led to the arrest of four cultists in a secluded forest at Kamalo in Ogijo, where one suspect died while attempting to escape, and three others sustained injuries falling into a gully.
Earlier incidents included the arrest of two Eye confraternity members in Adatan, Abeokuta, on January 14, and the apprehension of a cultist with a locally made pistol at Oke Yeke near Isabo in Abeokuta on January 16.
Additionally, on January 27, SWAT operatives arrested a cultist known as ‘Butcher,’ identified as the hitman of the Eye confraternity in the Ijebu axis.
Recovered from his residence were firearms, including a Browning pistol, a pump-action rifle, an English short double-barrel rifle, two locally made short single-barrel rifles, a locally made revolver pistol, and assorted criminal charms.
The police continue their efforts to curb cult-related activities in the region.
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