Like the proverbial stone rejected by the builders, the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) has emerged a cornerstone, as the police seek allies in the war against a dreaded cult group wiping out families in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
Using pestles to pound entire families to death, the Badoo cult has been linked to more than 26 deaths.
A joint operation of the police, OPC and Onyabo led to the arrest of two suspects with pestles at Odongunyan area of Ikorodu early today, and 15 others in a raid yesterday.
In the past, the Police and OPC were like cat and mouse. Many OPC members who claimed to be fighting for self determination were killed. The police also lost some men.
The animosity reached a crescendo when OPC leader, Gani Adams, was declared wanted and eventually arrested on August 22, 2001, after a 20-month manhunt.
His followers were accused of killing a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Bariga, whose body was never found. Adams had denied the involvement of OPC in the alleged killing.
But that was in the past. In pictures released yesterday, Adams was seen mapping out strategies with senior police officers in what appears like a Situation Room at the Lagos State police command headquarters where he was paraded in handcuffs with only his trousers on in 2001.
Now, the mission to be accomplished is to bust the Badoo cult in Ikorodu.
A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Israel Ajao has linked the Ikorodu massacres to ritual killings.
Ajao, who is now the Chairman Lagos State Neighborhood Corps told reporters on Friday: “It has become a disturbing trend and their modus operandi is worrisome. There is more to it than meets the eyes. They come into a house with no weapon except with a stone or mortar which they use to smash their victims’ head. They are not spirits, but they come at the dead of the night – 2am, and they use the grinding stone and mortar to smash the heads of an entire family. After they are done, they clean the blood with white clothes and they escape. This is bizarre and it is fetish and a ritual. We believe there are receivers who benefit from this; people who are evil, but we will not sit back and allow them to continue in this killing. We are going deeper into this crime and we will nip it in the bud. But we need the cooperation of members of the community.”
In its last reported outing on June 28, the cult killed a couple and their son at Odongunyan area of Ikorodu, and left two other children battling for life at a hospital.
The police operating in Ikorodu couldn’t pin down the criminals, but it’s a familiar territory to Adams who was arrested in 2001, when he came out of hiding at Owutu area of Ikorodu.
The police also engaged a group called Onyabo and local vigilantes in Ikorodu axis of Lagos State.
The team, in an operation that started early yesterday, combed communities in Ikorodu, moving from street to street.
OPC and Onyabo members moved with a combined team of police officers drawn from Lagos Command, Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and men from Ikorodu Police Division. They were led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Mr Imohimi Edgal.
Edgal was accompanied by the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, and the DPO in Ikorodu among others.
The team combed black spots in Ikorodu, Ibeshe, Ita Maja, Ijede, Ipakodo and other areas, where the suspects were arrested for questioning.
Over 40 police and RRS vehicles were allegedly deployed for the operations.
According to the Lagos State police spokesman, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, the exercise is a continuous one.
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