Cultist Fight In Sagamu
Fear in Sagamu as cultists engage in deadly fight. The atmosphere in Sagamu town has recently been harsh due to battles between opposing cult groups, leaving inhabitants to live in constant terror. Bankole Taiwo contributes
The ongoing cult clashes within Sagamu, the headquarters of Ogun State’s Sagamu Local Government Area, with the attendant loss of life, are already causing concern and frustration among residents of the town, who believe that the government and security forces must be more decisive in putting an end to this heinous incident.
Between January and September, at least four bloody cult battles were reported in Sagamu, with approximately 30 people killed.
In March, the governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun, had directed the state Commissioner of Police; the Commander, 35 Artillery Brigade; and the Director, Department of State Services, to relocate their operations to the Sagamu area of the state and apprehend those involved in the recent cult activities in the town.
Abiodun made the statement through his former Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, following a brutal cult fight in the town in which eight people were reportedly killed in a battle for domination between the two rival cult organizations of Eiye and Aiye confraternities.
Similarly, two precious souls were proven dead in April around Agbowa, behind Ewusi Palace, Makun, and Sagamu when these same cult groups of Eiye and Aiye confraternities clashed again.
According to eyewitnesses, gunshots blasted the air during the conflict between two opposing cult groups, prompting locals to flee for safety, and by the time the dust settled, two dead bodies were discovered.
Two months after, that is in June, there was another confrontation between these blood-thirsty groups around Ijagba when another life was cut down in his prime.
The most recent which occurred less than two weeks ago lasted four days and it was said to have been the most callous and brutal with the number of the dead put at 20 out of which many were said to be innocent and just victims of circumstances police have however said that only eight people died.
Speaking with our Correspondent, the Odofin of Sonyindo, Sagamu, Oba Gisanrin Lasisi confirmed that there had been reported cases of about four cult clashes in Sagamu this year and that the recent one was the most deadly as the cultists operated as if they were engaged in guerrilla warfare.
Oba Gisanrin said “When you heard that these boys have struck somewhere and you are still trying to gather your thoughts, somebody is telling you that there is another killing again somewhere. This last incident was terrible and horrible. All hands must be on deck to forestall a reoccurrence”.
Pressed to give clue to what he thought could have been responsible for the rising wave of cultism and cult clashes in the town, Oba Gisanrin said though it has been discovered that many of these cultists are strangers from States like Osun and Oyo, the root of this growing evil stands on three tripods of growing broken homes, increase in drugs and substance abuse as well as the prevalence of the yahoo boys who are into cybercrimes.
The royal father said “Many of these cultists are products of broken homes; many of them are not getting the desired support from their single mothers or fathers and they left home to stay with their friends who are cultists. Those who habour them will be responsible for their upkeep, giving them food, buying them clothes after which they will introduce them to cultism and that settles it.’’
For the yahoo boys, almost all of them are members of cult groups. The reason is that they always want one kind of security or the other because whenever they win big from their fraudulent ways, some established ones want to have a bite or a percentage of such money, so to ward off intimidation and harassment like this they will join a cult group that can always be there to defend them.
According to Oba Gisarin, another side to this growing disturbance is the influence of drugs. The amount of drugs in circulation now in Sagamu is huge. ‘’ One thing that is quite clear is that many of these cultists wouldn’t have been able to slaughter fowl talk less of stabbing or killing someone if not because of the drug influence. This is another major area the government has to work on to stem this orgy of senseless killings.’’
Another resident of the town who pleaded for anonymity said one other vital factor making this problem look intractable is the involvement of the politicians and alleged compromise on the part of the police.
The source said these cultists were armed by the two major parties of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party during elections and that none of the parties could claim to be saints on this subject.
According to the source “This is the reason why when these cultists are arrested; they are back in town after few days because the politicians would have made some moves to get them out of the police custody”