Four feared killed in Ogun cult clashes
Renewed cult clashes in the Alogi, Somorin and Obantoko areas of Ogun State on Saturday, between members of the outlawed Eiye and Aye confraternities have left about four persons dead.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the clashes, which occurred simultaneously, saw attacks and reprisals from the outlawed groups targeting individual members.
Our correspondent gathered from multiple eyewitnesses that the clashes occurred when some members of the Eiye group attacked and killed another member of the Aye group, and in a retaliatory attack, the Aye members also attacked the Eiye group, killing a member in the process.
While the number of casualties could not be ascertained at the time of this report due to differing eyewitness accounts, the clashes were said to have resulted in loss of lives.
An eyewitness who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Sunday disclosed that four persons were killed in the clash.
The eyewitness narrated that the cultists who went on a rampage in the Aregbe area shot sporadically, which left about four persons dead.
The source said, “Initially, I thought cultists’ rampage thrived more in Lagos than any state in Nigeria, but what I witnessed on Saturday in Ogun State had proved me wrong. Indeed, I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t witness it.
“I am presently in Ogun State on an assignment, staying somewhere around Aregbe close to the state police headquarters. In that area, there is a Divisional Police Command. I went to buy some toiletries near the division this evening. Suddenly, I saw the DPO with some of his boys moving in a war-like manner responding to a distress call.
“I immediately swung into action to know what happened. There, I saw deadly cult clashes involving the Aye and Eiye boys. Four of the cultists were felled by bullets in Somorin, Anobi and Alogi all in Obantoko under the Adatan Area Command.”
Another source privy to the incident, however, claimed that only two persons were killed in the clash.
The source noted that the clashes, which occurred simultaneously, left residents of the area in a panic mood.
“A cult violence took place in Abeokuta between Eiye and Aye cult groups, leading to revenge and retaliation. The first incident occurred in Somorin, Obantoko, where an Eiye cultist allegedly took the life of one Yusuf suspected to be a member of the Aye cult group.
“When the news of his death spread to members of his group, the Aye cultists in a retaliatory attack targeted and killed an Eiye cultist named Sula at Alogi, Obantoko.
The two incidents left residents of the area in a panic mood and occurred at almost the same time.”
When contacted for a reaction on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the clashes.
“Yes, there was,” Odutola said in a terse message.
She, however, did not respond to subsequent enquiries by our correspondent on the number of casualties involved in the clash.
The incessant cult clash in the Alogi, Somorin and Obantoko areas of the state have continued to raise concerns among residents.
PUNCH Metro reported in April 2024 that a retaliatory cult clash in the Alogi area of the state left one Azeez Olaitan dead following an attack by suspected members of the Aiye Confraternity.
Our correspondent gathered from a resident of the area who pleaded anonymity that the clash was a fallout of a previous attack on a suspected member of the Aiye confraternity by the Eiye confraternity on the same day.
