The Anti-Robbery Squad
of the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, Lagos, has arrested a
Lagos prince, Wale Jimoh, and seven others.
The police said the
suspects were arrested during initiation rites of the Eiye Confraternity in the
Jakande Roundabout, Small Kuramo, Lekki.
Jimoh’s father is said
to be the traditional ruler of a community in the area.
Other suspected members
of the confraternity group include; Frank Mafiana (32), Robert Williams (34),
Koko Etim (25), Ibrahim Ogunkoya (21), Stephen Anoh (27), Adekunle Mayegun
(25), and Moris Gordian (27).
Punch learnt that the men had organised a party at a bar owned by
their gang leader, Mafiana, and decided to use the occasion to initiate
Ogunkoya.
It was gathered that it
was at the last stage of the initiation that security operatives, acting on a
tip-off, struck.
A police source, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspects were “caught in the act.”
He said, “When we got
there, we met the new member in their midst. He was blindfolded and stark
naked. We recovered a gun, cutlass and a bottle of gin which contained ground
pepper from the scene.”
The leader of the cult
group, Mafiana, said he became a cultist while in a university in Enugu State.
The Delta State
indigene said, “A girl had hugged me in public. That night, some guys came to
my hostel and beat me up. They warned me never to go near the girl again.
“I became angry and
called my friend, who was a cultist. I told him I was ready to be one of them.
That was how I joined and rose to be the number one.
“I have gone for
several missions and beaten up many rival cult members, but I never killed.
When I came to Lagos, I stopped being a member and these guys only came to meet
me that day to assist them with the initiation.”
However, another member
of the group, Etim, countered Mafiana, saying he was the leader of the gang.
The Akwa Ibom indigene
said the gang always met at his bar where they held their meetings.
“We are all members and
he is the chief. I joined them recently and never knew there was going to be an
initiation that night,” he said.
On the initiation of
Ogunkoya, another member of the group, Williams, said they were called to the
bar at the instance of Jimoh, the prince.
Williams said, “Wale
(Jimoh) called Mafiana that Ogunkoya wanted to be a member. Our leader was
initially reluctant, but when he saw Jimoh with a polythene bag containing a
cutlass and a gun, he agreed.”
Jimoh on his part
confessed that he brought the gun and cutlass, adding that he stole them from a
shrine where Ogun worshippers in his community performed rites.
He said, “Although my
mum is the present queen in the palace, I am not the real son of the king. The
king married my mum and because he liked me, he adopted me.
“Ogunkoya is my friend.
He has been noticing how we operate, and he told me that he was interested in
being a member.
“I invited him for the
party. It was when he was feeling tipsy that we removed his clothes to initiate
him.”
He explained that
torture during initiation was meant to harden the minds of members.
Ogunkoya, however,
denied showing interest in the group, adding that he was threatened with a gun.
“I have never met them
in my life until that day. I never knew they were cultists until they attacked
and pushed me into a pit and started beating me around 9pm.
“They put a gun to my
head and said I must join them or else they would kill me,” he said.
- Punch
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