Eleven undergraduate students of the Oyo State-owned Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, have been arrested for alleged criminal offences, including cultism, illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and other related offences.
The suspects are alleged to be members of the dreaded Eiye Confraternity. Their arrest was confirmed in a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, in Ibadan on Friday.
He gave the identities of the suspects as “Adedapo Victor (24) — alleged leader of the group; Taiwo Rasheed (22) — alleged second-in-command; Emeka Issac (20); Akande Segundo (26); Akande Julius (26); Stephen Opeyemi (24); Fortune Abel (22); Oluwatunmise Ayodeji (22); Adigun Oladimeji (32); Akande Moses (28); and Karim Kalid (20).”
He stated that a thorough search conducted on the suspects and their hideout led to the recovery of several incriminating exhibits, believed to have been intended for use in violent activities.
Ayanlade said: “Exhibits recovered include four locally fabricated cut-to-size pistols; eleven live cartridges; one expended cartridge; two cult axes; one cutlass; one dagger knife; and one red cult hooded cap.
“Acting on credible intelligence received by the command, operatives of the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit were deployed after it was established that members of the dreaded Eiye Confraternity had converged at their hideout within the Under-G, Yuako, and Adenike areas, where they were allegedly perfecting plans to launch coordinated attacks within the student community capable of causing widespread unrest.
“On arrival at the identified locations, the operatives swiftly intervened and successfully foiled the planned attacks before they could be executed, leading to the arrest of 11 male suspects,” the PPRO explained.
He said that following their arrest, the suspects were taken into custody where they voluntarily confessed to being members of the dreaded Eiye Confraternity, while preliminary investigation further revealed their alleged involvement in various cult-related criminal activities, including murder.
Ayanlade stressed that further investigation established that all 11 suspects were students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.
“In response to this development, the state Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, commended the professionalism, vigilance, and prompt action of the operatives whose swift response prevented what could have escalated into violent attacks within the student community,” the PPRO said.