Adeleke orders clampdown on cultists, police arrest suspects

This was a sequel to the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke’s directive on Wednesday urging security agencies in the state to end violent attacks in Ilesa that have led to the deaths of about five residents in less than one week.

Our correspondent reports that about five people were killed between Sunday and Tuesday at Imo, Sabo/Irojo Junction, and Oke Omiru—all within the Ilesa metropolis—by Aye and Eye cult groups battling for supremacy in the town.

Some residents of the community, during an interview, lamented the negative effects of the killings on the socio-economic activities in the town and blamed the development on the supremacy battle between two rival cult groups operating in the town.

Adeleke, in a Wednesday statement signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, described the killing spree as ‘shocking and reprehensible,’ calling on the police service and other security agencies to act decisively to stop the cult clashes.

He said, “I have been duly briefed on the developments in some parts of Ijeshaland. We will no longer tolerate actions capable of disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the state. We will not allow any group or individual to use their internal wars to endanger public peace.

“This is a matter that threatens law and order. We must enforce the law and ensure peace without delay. This is one violence too many. I have directed the Commissioner of Police and other service chiefs to swing into action without delay. Violence and attacks must stop, and perpetrators must be brought to justice as urgently as possible.”

Giving an update about the security situation in the town during an interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the state Command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, said, ‘Some arrests have been made’ but declined given the number of those so far arrested.

She said, “We are still on the trail of some of the perpetrators. They are fleeing, but we are still on the trail. Normalcy has returned to the town. We have made some arrests in connection with the incident, but I don’t have the number of those arrested presently.”

The PUNCH reports that two suspected cultists were shot dead at Imo junction, while another two were killed around Sabo/Irojo Junction on Tuesday afternoon in what was believed to be revenge for the Imo killing.

The latest killing, which occurred around 7.49pm on Tuesday in the Oke Omiru area, was said to be a reprisal of the earlier attack.