150 suspected robbers and cultists have been apprehended by the police in Ogun State.
The arrests comes on the heels of complaints from residents in Owode, Ilepa, Ifo, Arigbajo, Itori, Dalemo, Ijoko Joju, Sango, Ota in Ifo, Agbado-Ijaiye, and other communities in Ifo and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of the state over the wave of robberies and cult clashes perpetuated by the suspects.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun had promised to ensure to deal ruthlessly with those found culpable, irrespective of the person’s background, adding that he would sign death warrants for those given the death sentence.
Kenneth Ebrimson, the Commissioner of Police, took reporters around the troubled areas after parading the 150 suspects and dismissed the claim that robbers had taken over Ifo and Ado/Odo/Ota regions of Ogun State.
Addressing reporters at the Ifo Divisional Police Station, Ebrimson stated that there was no report of robbery to the command by anyone living in the councils.
The Commissioner said it was a case of cult clashes among seven rival groups within the areas which came about from the murder of one of them. He explained that the Command responded to the emergency by deploying men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Special Forces and conventional policemen respectively.
Ebrimson disclosed that his men smoked out the suspects from their hideouts and recovered weapons.
According to The Nation, the police boss identified seven rival cult groups which included, Ilena boys; Federal boys; Lemon boys; Base boys ; Sahara boys; Gbese boys and Marindoti boys as responsible for the disturbances in Ifo and Ado/Ado/ Ota areas.
Video of the suspects arrested by the Ogun State Police command. #OgunUnrestMore #ogunrest #OgunIsSafe pic.twitter.com/zZ4rSecKKO
— Gateway Traffic Ogun state (@GatewayTraffic) April 12, 2020
He said: “The Genesis of this was from some criminal gangs that engaged in supremacy battle in Ifo and spread to Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state.
“It started on April 4, and the command tactical operation arrested some hoodlums and ammunition.
“I want to say that there was no single case of armed robbery, no case of kidnapping has been reported. Nobody has been killed.
“The basic issue is cultism that emanated from the killing of one of them in Ifo and spread to Sango, Ijoko and Agbado.
