- Wanted Solo Iwara, Bode Itaapa, General Shigo Lead Killings, Violence – Sources
- Faulty Operational Vehicles Hampers Police Intervention – Findings
- Residents Live In Fear, Rush Home By 6pm
Ismaeel Uthman
CULTISTS have begun to terrorise residents of Ilesa in Osun State, as they have renewed their daily violent activities.
This is evident in the spate of attacks involving members of Eiye and Afe cult groups, which resurfaced last week Monday.
OSUN DEFENDER noted that the clashes between cultists were suspended after the 2023 general elections, a development that restored peace to Ilesa and its environs.
According to investigations, the two cult groups were used by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for election purposes before and during the general election.
No fewer than eight people were killed in different political violence and cult related attacks before the elections.
However, five months after the elections, the cultists have resumed their violent activities, shooting and attacking one another with cutlasses, daggers, swords, broken bottles, charms and clubs.
The renewed attack has led to the killing of a reported leader of Eiye confraternity, who was identified as Segun Agbadaye, notoriously known as Shigo.
Also, three students of Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa, were accidentally shot during the shootout that occurred between the two cult groups last Sunday night.
One the students was shot in the eye, another shot in the waist while the third was shot on the leg, according to sources.
The students who were charging their phones at a barber’s shop at Amuta Junction, were reportedly hit by the bullets from the sporadic gunshots of the cultists.
The cultists had attacked Bolounduro, a street in Ilesa around 9:30pm and engaged in about two hours gun battle.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the ongoing cult clashes began last week Wednesday, July 19, when some suspected members of Afe confraternity attacked the Eiye base at Okesa, Ilesa.
Segun (shigo) who was said to be one of the strongest Eiye member and another cultist, Amuda were reportedly killed in the attack.
The development lead to reprisal attacks which has shattered the peaceful atmosphere of areas like Irojo, Okesa and Bolounduro.
Wanted Solo Iwara, Bode Itaapa, General, Shigo Lead Killings, Violence – Sources
According to sources, the cultists leading the attacks at both side of Eiye and Afe were known faces who have been terrorizing Ilesa and its environs for years.
The sources mentioned Solomon Adedimeji, known as Solo Iwara, Bode Itapa, General and late Segun as the people leading different attacks in the town.
It would be recalled that Adedimeji was declared wanted by Osun State Police Command on March 11, 2022 in connection with murder, arson, ritual killing, armed robbery, rape and kidnapping.
Investigations revealed that the late Segun and some other deadly cultists were released from Ilesa prison few months to the July 16, 2022 governorship election and had since been terrorising the community.
Mr Sola Ogunleye, a resident of Imo in Ilesa, said: “These guys (cultists) are known faces. The police know them and where they live. Solo Iwara, Bode Itapa are members of afe cult group, while General and Segun, people called him Shigo, a son of the Agbadaye of Igbadaye, are members of Eiye confraternity. Segun was killed last week Wednesday in Ilesa by these cultists in a clash. The police know all of them. They are the people terrorising Ilesa and neighbouring towns and villages.
“Solo Iwara and Bode Itapa don’t live in Ilesa, they usually come from their hideout inside a forest at Iwara to launch attack in Ilesa; and they retreat immediately. They usually come with nothing less than 20-25 motorcycles with three passengers on board.
“We are not at peace in Ilesa, the Eiye and Afe cultists are terrorising us. They shoot at anytime and anywhere. The two cult groups have been having running battles for long, and our politicians, especially PDP and APC, are to blame for this. They freed some of these guys from Prison before the 2022 governorship election. They armed them with weapons and the result is what we are seeing now.”
Faulty operational vehicles hampers Police Intervention
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the police in Ilesa are being challenged with faulty operational vehicles which has been making interventions on distressed calls difficult.
It was learnt that majority of the police operational vehicles are faulty and could not run fast to crime scene whenever distress call was put to them.
On the last Sunday attacks, some policemen who craved anonymity told the medium that the Ijamo Police Station received distress calls, but was unable to rapidly mobilize to defuse the tension.
According to the policemen, the station was challenged with proper functioning operational vehicles.
They said: “There is no operational vehicle that works. We have trained men who are readily available, but we lack an operable vehicle that is in good working order. The department has only one vehicle that is in operation that is flawed. The entire Ilesa East is covered by this vehicle.”
Some Ilesa residents claimed that it always takes police a minimum of about 30 minutes to drive to crime scene or area, describing the practice and unencouraging.
Residents live in fear, rush home by 6pm
The incessant cult clashes have left residents of Irojo, Okesa, Bolounduro and College of Health Technology in panic and confusion, forcing majority of them to close their shops and rushed home before 6pm.
A resident of Irojo, Mrs Bimbo Akinduro, told OSUN DEFENDER that she has not gone to her shop ever since the Sunday attack, because she believed there would be a reprisal from the other cult group.
“Thank God the attack happened on Sunday, if it were to be on Saturday, maybe I would have been among the victims because I close late. Ever since then, I have not opened my shop because I know there will be another attack; that is their usual practice. I don’t think Ilesa can be peaceful again. may God help us”, she stated.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the student who was shot in the eye was receiving treatment at UNIOSUN teaching hospital, Osogbo.
The other students were receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Ilesa.
When contacted, the Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Yemisi Opalola, confirmed the incident, disclosing that some arrests have been made.
