Police recover guns in latest arrest of 11 suspected cultists at LAUTECH
By Adejayan Gbenga
The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 11 suspected members of the Eiye Confraternity, all believed to be students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, over an alleged plot to launch attacks within the university community.
The operation also led to the recovery of firearms, ammunition and other dangerous weapons allegedly intended for use in the planned assault.
The Command disclosed the arrests in a statement issued on Friday, explaining that the operation followed credible intelligence indicating that members of the cult group had assembled at different locations in the Under-G, Yuako and Adenike areas of Ogbomoso to coordinate violent activities capable of disrupting peace within the university environment.
Acting on the intelligence, operatives of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit carried out coordinated raids on the identified hideouts, successfully foiling the alleged operation before it could be executed. The operation resulted in the arrest of 11 male suspects, who were immediately taken into custody for further investigation.
According to the police, preliminary interrogation revealed that the suspects allegedly admitted to being members of the Eiye Confraternity, while ongoing investigations have also linked them to several cult-related offences, including murder.
The command further disclosed that all those arrested are students of LAUTECH.
The suspects were identified as Adedapo Victor, 24, alleged leader of the group; Taiwo Rasheed, 22, said to be the deputy leader; Emeka Issac, 20; Akande Segundo, 26; Akande Julius, 26; Stephen Opeyemi, 24; Fortune Abel, 22; Oluwatunmise Ayodeji, 22; Adigun Oladimeji, 32; Akande Moses, 28; and Karim Kalid, 20. During a search of the suspects and their hideout, security operatives reportedly recovered four locally made cut-to-size pistols, 11 live cartridges, one spent cartridge, two axes suspected to have been used for cult activities, a cutlass, a dagger and a red hooded cult regalia believed to be associated with the group.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, commended the VCRU operatives for their professionalism and swift action, noting that their intervention helped prevent what could have escalated into violent clashes within the university community. He assured residents that the command would sustain its crackdown on cultism and other violent crimes across the state.
Olugbenga added that efforts were ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the group, while the suspects would be prosecuted upon the conclusion of investigations. He also urged residents to continue supporting security agencies with timely and credible information, stressing that public cooperation remains vital in the fight against cultism and other criminal activities across Oyo State.
