The swift response to a distress call made to the police by a good samaritan, cultists in their characteristic clash of supremacy would have thrown Oto-Ijanikin on the Lagos/Badagry Expressway into grief and mournful mood on Sunday, July 25, 2021.
Members of the warring cult groups were said to had gone on rampage, attacking each other with diverse dangerous weapons when police detectives attached to Ijanikin, raced to the scene and were able to quell the free-for-all, arresting two.
Those apprehended in the course of police operation have been identified by the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, as two male suspects, Taiye Israel and Isiaka Afeez, from whom an axe, cutlasses, assorted charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered.
Their arrest, according to the PPRO in a press statement, was at about 11am, by Ile-Oba bus stop, adding that normalcy was immediately restored to the area and that, “no life was lost in clash”.
He further said that, the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had ordered the transfer of the suspects to the Command’s Strike Team in Ikeja, for proper investigation and possible arrest of other members of the gangs, while directing the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ijanikin Division to step up his anti crime strategies in curbing crimes and criminality, especially cultism, in his area of responsibility.
In the same vein, CP Odumosu has ordered tactical commanders and other special squads in the Command to immediately embark on constant raid of black spots and criminal hideouts in the Ijanikin axis as well as other parts of the state, “in compliance with the command’s zero tolerance for crimes and criminality, particularly cultism”.
“The Commissioner of Police therefore warned cultists, miscreants and those who have plans of causing unrest and engaging themselves in criminal acts in the state to steer clear of Lagos State, as the command and other security agencies will not relent in their spirited efforts to sustain and improve on the present security and peace being enjoyed by residents of Lagos State”, the statement added.