The Ogun State government has created a special court, solely established to try cult-related cases in the state.
The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, disclosed this on Tuesday, during a security summit organised by the state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students and the National Association of Ogun State Students.
Alamutu, who lauded the move of the state government, said the step would not only help reduce the burden on regular courts but also help security agencies in the fight against the menace of cultism in the state.
The event, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, with the theme: “Economic/Political Approach In Combating Insecurity,” also witnessed the inauguration of the new executive members of NANS and NAOSS in the state.
Alamutu, who was represented by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Haruna Adams, described cultism as the root of all other crimes in the state.
“Today in Ogun State, the government has come up with a court that will deal with cultism issues.
“No case will be taken to that court, apart from cultism cases. The creation of this court will help us a lot to reduce issues of cultism in this state,” he said.
The police boss also disclosed that the major security issue facing the state was cultism.
“In Ogun state, we have our own issue of insecurity like other states. Here in Ogun State, the issue we are facing is cultism.
“Cultism is the root of every crime in this state, it is the root of armed robbery and this issue of cultism is disturbing us seriously. These cultists graduate from cultism to armed robbery and other crimes.
“If we arrest any armed robber, most of them are graduates and if you interrogate them, they always say they started from cultism. We are working to make sure that we reduce this menace in our society,” he said.
Speaking on the effort to curb highway robbery in the state, Alamutu said, “What the command is doing is to deploy a lot of patrol teams to our boundaries with Lagos State and our boundaries with other states. This has reduced the rampant cases of armed robbery along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”
In his remark, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Student Matters, Azeez Adeyemi, urged security agencies to partner with students and other relevant stakeholders in combating insecurity in the state.
Adeyemi said, “The economic well-being of the people is a significant determinant of the larger security in the society. An economically engaged and self-sufficient human is less vulnerable to take options in criminal acts.
“Qualitatively educated citizens, particularly agile youths, are usually intelligent enough to interact with their society more productively than dangerously.
“Well-trained young people are, in fact, very crucial in developing an economy to become more progressive, as well as contributing to combatting security with innovative ideas and technology.
“However, all of these economic solutions to security could be an end but they are not the means by themselves.
“Providing a suitable environment for economic well-being, providing qualitative education and training, improving the economic prosperity of the nation, among other things, are all dependent on the opinions and suggestions of stakeholders and the final decisions of policymakers,” he said.
