A police officer, SP Morakinyo Adejumo, has been hospitalised after suspected cultists clashed with men of the Ogun State Police Command in the Sagamu area of the state.
The officer, who is the deputy officer-in-charge of the command’s Anti-Cultists Unit, was seriously injured by the cultists before they were subdued by policemen.
No fewer than 10 suspected members of the dreaded Eiye confraternity in the Sagamu area of the state were arrested.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Oyeyemi said the suspects, who had been terrorising Sagamu and its environs, were apprehended on Saturday.
Suspected cultists have been unleashing violence on some parts of Sagamu during which lives were lost.
Reacting to the development, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, directed security agencies to treat the cultists as terrorists.
But on Monday, the PPRO said there was a clash between policemen and cultists leading to the arrest of 10 suspects.
He identified the suspects as Adekoya Adesina, Ayinde Olumide, Adebayo Jamiu, Ajayi Temitope, Taiwo Olatunji, Oladapo Ayeye, Johnson Adeyemi, Tunde Banjo, Gbenga Morufu and Tunde Adenuga.
He said, “In continuation of the Operation Clampdown on Cultists embarked upon by the Ogun State Police Command, 10 members of the dreaded Eiye Confraternity who have been terrorising Sagamu and its environs in recent times were apprehended on Saturday by the Anti-Cultists Unit of the command.
“They were arrested following information received by men of the unit that a group of cultists were converging at different locations in Odogbolu to unleash terror in Sagamu in continuation of the supremacy battle going on among the various cult groups in Sagamu and its environs.
“Upon the information, the anti-cultist team mobilised and moved to the area.
“On sighting the policemen, the hoodlums attacked them but they were subdued by the policemen after which 10 among the cultists were apprehended.
“The second-in-command of the unit, SP Morakinyo Adejumo, was seriously injured during the operation, and he was rushed to the hospital where he is responding to treatment.
“Recovered from them are eight live cartridges and a large quantity of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.”
The PPRO said the state Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Oladimeji, has ordered a massive manhunt for the remaining members of the group.
