Police arrest Lagos prince, others during cult initiation

The suspects

The Anti-Robbery Squad of the State Department of Criminal
Investigation, Yaba, Lagos, has arrested a Lagos prince, Wale
Jimoh, and seven others.
The police said the suspects were arrested during initiation rites
of the Eiye Confraternity in the Jakande Roundabout, Small
Kuramo, Lekki.
Jimoh’s father is said to be the traditional ruler of a community
in the area.
Other suspected members of the confraternity group include;
Frank Mafiana (32), Robert Williams (34), Koko Etim (25),
Ibrahim Ogunkoya (21), Stephen Anoh (27), Adekunle Mayegun
(25), and Moris Gordian (27).
PUNCH Metro learnt that the men had organised a party at a bar
owned by their gang leader, Mafiana, and decided to use the
occasion to initiate Ogunkoya.
It was gathered that it was at the last stage of the initiation that
security operatives, acting on a tip-off, struck.
A police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the
suspects were “caught in the act.”
He said, “When we got there, we met the new member in their
midst. He was blindfolded and stark naked. We recovered a gun,
cutlass and a bottle of gin which contained ground pepper from
the scene.”
The leader of the cult group, Mafiana, said he became a cultist
while in a university in Enugu State.
The Delta State indigene said, “A girl had hugged me in public.
That night, some guys came to my hostel and beat me up. They
warned me never to go near the girl again.
“I became angry and called my friend, who was a cultist. I told
him I was ready to be one of them. That was how I joined and
rose to be the number one.
“I have gone for several missions and beaten up many rival cult
members, but I never killed. When I came to Lagos, I stopped
being a member and these guys only came to meet me that day
to assist them with the initiation.”
However, another member of the group, Etim, countered
Mafiana, saying he was the leader of the gang.
The Akwa Ibom indigene said the gang always met at his bar
where they held their meetings.
“We are all members and he is the chief. I joined them recently
and never knew there was going to be an initiation that night,”
he said.
On the initiation of Ogunkoya, another member of the group,
Williams, said they were called to the bar at the instance of
Jimoh, the prince.
Williams said, “Wale (Jimoh) called Mafiana that Ogunkoya
wanted to be a member. Our leader was initially reluctant, but
when he saw Jimoh with a polythene bag containing a cutlass
and a gun, he agreed.”
Jimoh on his part confessed that he brought the gun and
cutlass, adding that he stole them from a shrine where Ogun
worshippers in his community performed rites.
He said, “Although my mum is the present queen in the palace, I
am not the real son of the king. The king married my mum and
because he liked me, he adopted me.
“Ogunkoya is my friend. He has been noticing how we operate,
and he told me that he was interested in being a member.
“I invited him for the party. It was when he was feeling tipsy that
we removed his clothes to initiate him.”
He explained that torture during initiation was meant to harden
the minds of members.
Ogunkoya, however, denied showing interest in the group,
adding that he was threatened with a gun.
“I have never met them in my life until that day. I never knew
they were cultists until they attacked and pushed me into a pit
and started beating me around 9pm.
“They put a gun to my head and said I must join them or else
they would kill me,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command,
Patricia Amadin, when contacted, said she would get back to our
correspondent. But she had yet to do so as of press time.
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