NEWS:Five Secondary School Boys Caught By The Police Over Cultism

The Lagos State Police Command- Anti-Cultism Unit, has apprehended five secondary school students and an artisan, alleged to be members of a cult group that has been terrorising Surulere and its environs in Lagos. The students were arrested in their school uniforms, on their way to attack a rival cult group at Eko Boys High School, in Mushin area of the state.

Recovered in their bags, according to the Police, were axes, cutlasses and knives. During the interrogation the students; Ajala Hafiz (13), Femi Awoniyi (17), Dauda Sodiq (15) and Timilehin Balogun (17), said the fifth suspect, Mayowa Rauf Oguntoye (18) was their leader and provider of the weapons in their possession.

One of them , Hafiz, a Junior Secondary School 1 student of Birch Freeman Junior Secondary School, Surulere,  stated that  the cutlass found on him was for self-defence. “I armed myself for self defence”. He further explained their mission on the day of the arrest, Hafiz said, “ We went to play Principal Cup football match with other schools. Fights usually break out at the end of a match, as the loser usually attacked the winning school. So, I had to arm myself with a knife for self defence.”  However according to vanguard’s report, when he was asked if he was a cultist, he kept norm.

Oguntoye denied allegation by the students that he gave them the weapons. Although, one of the boys, pleaded with him to say the truth, since they have been caught.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Edgal Imohimi, said the suspects would have a session with the Gender Unit of the Command for further investigation since they were minors, even as he urged parents to pay more attention to their children and wards. He threatened that “henceforth, any underage child caught for cultism in Lagos, the parents will be arrested for questioning.”