TheCable

The Ekiti state police command says it has arrested the alleged masterminds of cult clashes, and 15 others suspected to have perpetrated different crimes in the state.

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, Ogundare Dare, the state commissioner of police, said kidnappers, robbers, rapists, and notorious cultists were among the arrested suspects.

Represented by Sunday Abutu, the command’s spokesperson,  Dare said the rapid response squad (RRS) team of the command, arrested the suspects on April 6, through bush combing operations.

He said four suspects — Augustine Agboobo, Olamilekan Adeniyi, Friday Williams Ukeuima, and Gabriel Ademoh, were nabbed inside the forest close to Igede farm settlement.

Dare said the suspects during interrogation confessed to being members of a kidnapping syndicate who had abducted one Adeleke Ajibade and others on June 6, 2022, and collected ransom before their release.

He said the command also arrested Saliu Oyebamiji and Mayowa Ajisafe, while a notorious robber and rapist, Jimoh Gani, was arrested on April 4.

The suspects allegedly participated in the robbery and raping of a student of a higher institution located in Ikere-Ekiti.

“During interrogation, the suspects confessed to have committed the crime alongside one Femi Ayobami and Alfa Kayode, all residents of Ado-Ekiti, who escaped during arrest,” he said.

The police commissioner said various items were also recovered from the suspects, including a locally made single barrel gun, one dane gun, and bags of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp, among others.