Cult war: Police confirm 8 dead, 9 arrested as Ogun govt imposes curfew in Sagamu  

 

.Gov Abiodun orders crack down on cultists  

 

The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed  the arrest of nine suspects following the killing of about 8 persons over the weekend in Sagamu as rival cult groups  clashed.

 

Speaking on the crisis during a press briefing in Abeokuta, the state capital, CP Abiodun Alamutu revealed the remote cause of the clashes to be a land transaction that took place in the town.

 

“A land was sold and some form of commission or settlement was paid to a cult group by the owner of the land. A rival cult group got to know about the payment and went after members of the other group in a bid to get a share of the commission.

 

“The situation degenerated into an attack and counter attack situation which started from Wednesday las week and continued till Sunday, leading to the death of 8 persons,” the Police boss said.

 

Speaking further, he revealed the arrest of some of the kingpins of the rival cult groups. “About nine suspects have been arrested as we speak with evidences of their involvement in the killings. Two guns and some rounds of cartridges with evidences that they were recently fired, were recovered from the suspects,” he added.

 

Investigation, according to the Police boss, is still ongoing into the killings. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Local Government Area, has imposed a restriction on the use of motorcycles in the area between 7pm and 6am daily as authorities battle to restore peace to the troubled town.

 

Following recent clashes among rival cult groups in Sagamu, the Ogun State government has announced restriction of movement from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Lekan Adeniran, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Monday.

The government, therefore, urged residents of the town to abide by the restriction order pending the time the security of the area will improve.

The government, however, said police and other security agencies are on top of the situation to restore normalcy.

The statement assured residents of the town of their security and property.

“This is to notify residents of Sagamu and its environs of total restriction of human and vehicular movement as a way of taking firm control of the security architecture of the area and protect the lives of the people and their property.

“We, therefore, implore the residents of the area to abide strictly by this restriction order and cooperate with security agencies to restore normalcy and bring perpetrators of these dastardly acts to book immediately,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has directed security agencies in the State to rid Sagamu and its environs of the menace of cultists and cult-related activities in the State.

 

The directive came in the wake of renewed clashes among rival cult gangs in the town at the weekend, raising tension and panic among residents of the town.

 

Meanwhile, security agents are already on ground in the troubled town to restore normalcy.

 

Governor Abiodun, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Lekan Adeniran, regretted the avoidable loss of innocent lives and wanton destruction of properties by the hoodlums.

 

According to him, the police and sister security agencies have been given a matching order to deal ruthlessly and decisively with those disturbing the peace of the town.

 

Reiterating the state government’s zero tolerance to acts of brigandage and lawlessness, Prince Abiodun warned that those responsible for this current crisis will find themselves to blame.

 

He said: ” As a responsible and responsive government, we are very sad with the resurgence of activities of criminal elements under different outlawed groups, raising unnecessary tension in the sleepy town of Sagamu and it’s environs.

 

“Let me categorically state that we are more than determined to put an end quickly to these nefarious activities of these hoodlums and enemies of our people; who are hellbent to truncate the peace of our land.

 

“Let these urchins be rest assured that the State will be too hot for them to operate as we are reevaluating the security architecture for greater surveillance and tactical operation”.

 

The governor noted that the new security approach would be implemented in collaboration with the traditional institution, community and religious leaders, youth groups as well as other critical stakeholders.

 

Abiodun, therefore, appealed to the people to provide adequate and useful information to security agents for prompt response to prevent future occurrences.