- Why it’s been difficult to end menace – Ogun governor
Sagamu, a bustling community in Ogun State, is Nigeria in microcosm, given that it is home home to many of the country’s major and minor ethnic nationalities. Founded around the turn of the 19th Century, it is one of the most populous communities in the Gateway State as well as one of the state’s economic hubs. Its proximity to both Lagos and Ibadan, two important commercial cities in the Southwest, further enhances its profile and strategic importance.
Besides its economic importance, Sagamu is also home to many prominent Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, including the heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua and the recently dethroned EFC heavyweight champion, Israel Adesanya. These together with others like former Ogun State Governor and the current Senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the Asiwaju of Remoland, Chief Solomon Onafowokan, among a host of others, have continued to position the town on the global stage.
However, a pall of cultism has fallen over the town in recent times, threatening to erode her fame and fortune. The high point of the ugly trend was the recent killing of eight people during a clash between rival cult gangs penultimate Sunday. Worried residents claim they no longer sleep with their two eyes closed due to the activities of cult members who are in the habit of firing heavy gunshots at night.
While clashes between rival cuts is not new in Sagamu, our correspondent gathered that the foundation for the ongoing cult wars in the town was laid during the build-up to the 2019 general elections, when a member of the Aiye confraternity was felled by cult members suspected to be from the rival Eiye group.
Since then, the two groups have repeatedly engaged each other in attacks and reprisal attacks.
An indigene and a high chief, who did not want his name in print, lamented in a chat with The Nation that the cultists were reversing the good fortunes of Sagamu with their frequent clashes, the attendant loss of lives and disruption of peace.
The high chief, who is also a chieftain of one the major political parties, said that indigenes of the town resident in Lagos, Ibadan and other parts of the world used to come home annually for the Sagamu Cultural Day. He, however, regretted that many of such cultural enthusiasts no longer show interest in the festival due to increasing concerns about their safety.
Cumulatively, he said, no fewer than over 40 people have been killed during clashes between rival cult gangs in Sagamu in the last three years.
Another indigene of the town, who declined giving his name forsecurity reasons, said that cultism used to be a phenomenon among students of higher institutions, but with the return of democracy, the operators lowered the requirements when politicians began to engage them during election season.
The anonymous indigene said that in the town and its environs, the recruitment process was so liberalised that by the year 2005, even carpenters, bricklayers, commercial motorcycle operators and other artisans were being initiated into cult groups. This, he added, informed the frequent clashes between them over one conflict of interests or the other.
On May 5 this year, after a cult clash that left at least four persons dead, the rattled Governor Dapo Abiodun had taken the cultists and their violent campaigns in Sagamu as a “test” of his “administration’s will” and proceeded to declare them “terrorists,” and “saboteurs” to the economy of not just the town and the local government but also the state, warning all cult members, their parents, landlords and sponsors that he would bring down houses harbouring cultists.
But two days after he declared them terrorists, they struck again, killing three persons, including an attendant at the AWABAT filling station in Ijokun area of the town. Earlier this year, no fewer than nine persons, including one identified as Akeem, were gruesomely murdered in Soyindo, Ijagba, Ajegunle and Sabo, all in Sagamu.
Some time in June 2021, the police arrested one Suleman Kazeem, an alleged notorious member of the dreaded Aye cult group in Sagamu for killing another cultist fondly called “Ajekunrin.” Kazeem and his Aiye cult members were said to have engaged their rival Eiye cult members in supremacy battle, during which they murdered Ajekunrin at Latawa area of Sagamu and cut off his two hands.
Read Also: Sagamu killings: DSS moves to unravel masterminds
In the month of June 2022 alone, the police arrested six most wanted cultists in Sagamu, giving their names as Rafiu Osokoya; Azeez Abiola; Ogunsanwo Waheed; Toheeb Ayodele; Kolawole Adegbenro and Azeez The suspects confessed to the killing of one Animashaun, another person identified as Ekwe, one Adigun and Elewure who were killed at different locations in the town.
In the latest clash that began on Wednesday September 13 and peaked on Saturday September 16, 20 young men were said to have been killed by suspected cultists in Sagamu town in what was said to be another supremacy tussle in the renewed violence between the Eiye and Aiye confraternities. The police, however, put the casualty figure at eight.
Four of the victims had been murdered when the room they were staying in Sakura, Ewu Iya was stormed by one of the rival confraternities. Four other persons, including a school pupil, were cut down in different locations in Sagamu. The Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command, CP Abiodun Alamutu, confirmed the killing of eight persons, and traced the remote cause to a land transaction that took place in the town.
He said: “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 the 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 eight persons.”
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 evidence of their involvement in the killings. Two guns and some rounds of cartridges with evidence that they were recently fired were recovered from the suspects,” he added.
Investigation into the killings, the police boss said, was ongoing while the state government, on its part, responded by imposing a dusk to dawn curfew in the town and ordered residents to abide by the directive pending the time the security situation in the town would improve.
The police boss said: “This is to notify residents of Sagamu and its environs of total restriction of human and vehicular movements 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 the perpetrators of these dastardly acts to book immediately.”
Governor Abiodun’s reads the riot act
Earlier, Governor Abiodun had directed security agencies to rid the embattled community and its environs of the menace of cultism and cult-related activities. The chief security officer also gave the police and sister security agencies a marching order to deal ruthlessly and decisively with those disturbing the peace of the town. He warned that the people responsible for the crisis would only have themselves to blame.
Governor Abiodun 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 its environs.
“Let me categorically state that we are more than determined to quickly put an end to the nefarious activities of these hoodlums and enemies of our people, who are hellbent on truncating 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.
He appealed to the people to provide adequate and useful information to security agents for prompt response to prevent future occurrences.
Expectedly, efforts by security agencies to track down the perpetrators of the Sunday deadly clash are yielding results. The Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, SP Omolola Odutola, said four suspects had been arrested after a raid carried out by the Police Command in Sagamu, led by ACP Shehu Alao in collaboration with the VGN (Vigilante Group of Nigeria).
SP Odutola gave the names of the suspects as Asaiye Omolaja, Azeez Nofiu, Mathew Adewale, and Bolaji Ogunkemaya. She noted that Bolaji Ogunkemaya was specifically found with four deceased persons in the same room where their killings occurred while one suspect identified simply as Wasiu, managed to escape before the police arrived.
Similarly, on Wednesday, September 20, a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly representing one of the Sagamu constituencies, was said to have provided safe shelter to the fleeing cultists. A team of security operatives, in a sting operation after a tip-off, were said to have arrested the suspects in the premises of the lawmaker.
Those arrested, according to sources, include Damilare Bello Mohammed a.k.a. DRE, Debbo Animashaun, Bamidele Saheed, Ismaila Onitire, Adewale Otesanya and Tobi Owoade. They were said to be undergoing interrogation at the Department of State Service (DSS).
Sources revealed that many dangerous weapons, including guns, were recovered from the suspects. One Hon. Bello was earlier arrested by the DSS for allegedly masterminding a violent protest that rocked Sagamu in February this year over the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
During the protest, irate youths vandalised about 10 banks and other public infrastructures.
Giving insight into the recent clash, Force Spokesman, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who had served in the town between 2006 and 2008, said the situation in Sagamu is not what the deployment of an anti-cultism squad only could tackle. He sought all hands on deck to address the menace.
Adejobi said: “Sagamu case goes beyond the mere anti-cultism squad. The elders know how to handle them. The politicians know what to do.
“I was in their midst in Sagamu between 2006 and 2008, but there was no single cult clash before I left in 2008. I worked then with the late Akarigbo, Oba Michael Sonariwo, and others.
“I will engage the CP on this. Whoever is dealing with cultists and criminals must not compromise. That person must stand firm and operate against all odds.
“Most of those who cause this wahala (problem) in Sagamu are not even Sagamites. At times, they come from Ijebu Ode or Ago Iwoye to strike and move. In some cases, they come as far as Edo State.
“It is a problem that the whole system must tackle; not only the security forces. It requires multi-track diplomacy. We will discuss this with the CP and take the necessary steps.
“In Sagamu, almost every young one is a cultist. Okada (commercial motorcycle) riders, artisans, and so on are into cultism even more than students, and I think the whole town and Remoland in general should take action on it.
“I think the community should rise up to it. They should have an urgent meeting with the heads of all the quarters in sagamu with the police and vigilante group to address this matter.
“Sagamites know and understand what I am saying here. I worked in sagamu for almost two years,” Adejobi stated on his X handle.
‘Landlords making it difficult to demolish cultists’ homes’
Governor Abiodun lamented his administration’s inability to pull down any of the houses in Sagamu harbouring suspected cultists despite the state government’s threat and resolve to use the stern measure to rid the town and its environs of deadly cult activities.
Abiodun said each time the government tried to demolish such houses, the landlords would rush to beg that their properties should be spared, pleading that they were not aware that any of their tenants was a cultist.
The Governor, who made his frustrations known at a meeting with the Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, and his chiefs at the Akarigbo Palace in Sagamu, however hinted that a law prescribing death penalty for anyone engaging in cultism would soon be promulgated.
He expressed shock at the wanton destruction of lives and peace of Sagamu and its environs, even as he warned that the government would not fold its arms and watch unscrupulous persons run riot in any part of the state.
He noted that the cultists were not spirits but humans who live in the midst of others in the communities, and appealed to the traditional rulers to support the state government with intelligence about the bad gangs in their domains.
He said: “We will rely on our Kabiyesis (traditional rulers), because they are the closest to the grassroots, for all the intelligence support. These people are not spirits. They live within us. They are tenants in our houses.
“The last time I came here, I said any house that we arrest anybody that is connected to either cultism or kidnapping, we will find out where they live and demolish that house.
“Sadly, it has been very difficult for me to implement because they rent an apartment and the unsuspecting landlords who don’t know what they do give their houses to them, and after we arrest them and about to demolish the house, those landlords will come and beg us that they did not know the suspects were into that business.
“I want to sympathise with the good and law-abiding citizens of Sagamu and, of course, our revered paramount ruler and the Kabiyesis and all those who have lost loved ones.
“We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that we bring any person directly, indirectly or remotely responsible for these occurrences to book.
“I have discussed with the Attorney General. Perhaps it is our disposition that allows for these occurrences of heinous crimes. It is well within my powers as the governor of this state to pronounce the death penalty on people, and we are going to ensure that we enact that.
“When people appreciate and understand the consequences of their behaviours, perhaps they will begin to have a rethink.
“I have called on the Commissioner of Police, the Director of the State Service (DSS), the Commander of the Civil Defence, our Amotekun Commander and all our security architecture to relocate to Sagamu for this purpose.
“I am now pronouncing that we will no longer refer to these people as cultists or any other name. We are pronouncing them as murderers and we will mete out punishments that are deserving to murderers.”
