DAILY TRUST TUESDAY AUGUST 27, 2013 3 SUSPECTED CULTISTS BURNT IN ILORIN...12 INJURED, 18 ARRESTED There was confusion in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital following the killing of three suspected cultists who were burnt alive by irate mob after some vigilante people ambushed the group on Sunday. The over 30 suspected members of the cultist group had allegedly performed initiation rites in a bush along NASFAT Village, Airport Ilorin when they were rounded up by some members of a vigilante group. Report said the ensuing gun duel between the two groups felled down three of the suspected cultists who were subsequently set ablaze while still writhing in pain. However, there is controversy on the true identity of the burnt suspects. While the police claim they were cultists, the vigilante people and residents say they were armed robbers who have been terrorising the area in recent times. This was said to have precipitated the jungle justice dispensed on them. The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Fabode who gave account of the incident in a chat with our correspondent said the suspects belong to Aiye confraternity, one of the cult groups in the state. According to the police spokesman, the three suspects were already burnt beyond recognition before officers and men of the command arrived at the scene. He said, “Information gathered was that on Saturday night armed robbers were hiding in a bush behind NASFAT village along Airport road, Ilorin. “This prompted various vigilante groups in the communities around the place to mount sentry on all roads that lead to the bush and waited until early hours of this morning when the Aiye confraternity completed their initiation. “Unsuspectingly, they ran into the ambush laid by the various vigilante groups while people mistook them for armed robbers and opened fire on them”. The PPRO said in the ensuing gun duel, three of the cult members were killed and set ablaze. Fabode confirmed that three of the cultists died, four critically injured and 18 of them were arrested and currently being interrogated by men of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He disclosed that some of the cultists came from as far as Lagos, Osun, Ibadan and Oyo, assuring that more of them would be arrested as the cultists ran to various directions when they learnt that their colleagues had been apprehended. The raid on the suspected cultists’ hideout came barely a week after the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed read riot Act to students who belong to one cult group or the other to renounce cultism or face the consequences. Speaking with Daily Trust on the latest incidence, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Prince Tunji Moronfoye who said police was still investigating the matter. He however pointed out that the state government is unhappy with the way people take laws into their hands by dispensing jungle justice.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 08:56:08 +0000
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