Night life gradually fading out
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
No fewer than 18 residents have been killed in different clashes between suspected cult groups in Ilesa, an ancient town in Osun State in the last two months.
Residents are worried that despite security interventions, public outcries, and pleas by the traditional ruler in the town, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, for peace to reign, cultists did not cease from terrorizing the town and killing innocent members of the public and rival gang members.
The persistent killings and other violent activities by the cultists have thrown residents into panic as night life in the town is gradually fading out.
As is the case in Ilesa, cult groups also engage in deadly and violent attacks on rivals in Osogbo, Ede and Ile-Ife towns.
It was, however, gathered that the situation in Ilesa is becoming worse as the rampaging cultists, said to members of Aye and Eiye confraternities, continue to hunt and hack themselves down almost on a daily basis.
Some residents of the state were reported to have been killed by stray bullets in crossfire during cult wars. Majority of the people, stricken with fear, say that they now go to bed early at night in order not to be caught in the web of attacks.
The latest of the killings occurred last Tuesday as some cultists, who were on a motorcycle, allegedly shot a man suspected to be a rival gang member dead at Wesley area of Ilesa around 7pm.
Cultists were said to have struck on Wednesday, March 9, killing one person called Omoga at the Roundabout area, in Ilesa. Those in the neighborhood said that Omoga was hacked to death around 9pm by some cultists who waylaid him at the Roundabout area.
It was gathered that Omoga was notorious for going the hard path while alive. However, he was not linked with any cult group.
A resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “Omoga was a ‘street guy.’ Everybody knew him to be a hard guy, but I can’t say he was a cultist. This is because when the clashes between Aye and Eiye cult groups started, the cultists left Ilesa for safety. But Omoga was around; he did not go anywhere. I was surprised when I was told that he was killed.”
It was gathered that someone was shot by suspected cultists a day before Omoga’s murder around 8am at Oke-Ola area of Ilesa.
According to sources, the victim was shot on the head and hand by some fierce-looking young men who rode on a motorcycle.
It was gathered that the wife of the victim rushed him to an undisclosed hospital.
Meanwhile, disturbed by the spate of killings and violent clashes in the town, a member of the House of Representatives who hails from Ilesa, Lawrence Ayeni, has moved a motion of urgent importance during plenary.
Ayeni, representing Atakumosa East/Atakumosa West/Ilesa East/Ilesa West Federal Constituency of Osun State was said to have reported to the lower chamber of the National Assembly that some unknown cult groups were killing residents of the town and its environs. He appealed for the intervention of the parliament in the interest of the people.
In his motion, Ayeni alleged that the cultists killed five persons on February 7 in Ilesa, adding that on February 21, 2022 in the Irojo area of Ilesa East, seven persons were also killed in an attack by suspected cultists.
“On the 7th February, 2022, members of a dreaded cultist group, in broad daylight, killed five persons while those who were hurt by stray bullets and sustained various degrees of injury were taken to Wesley Hospital located in Ilesa East for medical treatment.
“There was another massacre carried out on Monday, 21st February, 2022 in Irojo area of Ilesa East during which seven persons were killed by suspected cultists around 7.30pm, barely an hour after a peace meeting by some community leaders and the Osun State Commissioner of Police,” he informed the House.
Miffed by Ayeni’s accounts, the House of Representatives directed the State Security Service and the Police to intervene in the cult-related killings in Osun State.
The House directed the Director-General of SSS, Yusuf Bichi, and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Akali, to deploy their men to the Irojo area of Ilesa East and other hotspots in the state to avert a recurrence.
