The
father of two suspected gang leaders of the Awawa cult in the
Dopemu area of Agege, Lagos State, has disowned the children, urging the police
to prosecute them.
It was learnt that the two
suspects – Fatai Popoola and Yakubu Popoola – were arrested by the Lagos State
Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, Alausa, on
Friday.
It
was gathered that apart from 27-year-old Yakubu and 30-year-old Fatai, the
police also arrested 13 other suspected members of the gang identified as Ajayi
Babatunde, Ajose Anthony, Nurudeen Adebayo, Olayemi Lasege, Afeez Sanusi,
Oluwafemi Ajibade, Opeyemi Oluwasola, Oluwatobi Adewunmi, Sunday Akerele,
Timothy Ogar, Actor Amaechi, Jimoh Sanni and Owolabi Adediran.
The
suspected members of the Awawa cult had
dispossessed people of their property and raped young girls in the Aluminum
Village and Valley Estate areas of Dopemu.
A
police source said that the cult boys had attacked the police but were
overpowered and arrested.
The
source said, “The arrest of the 15 Awawa cult members
was based on a tip-off. The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, had got
several complaints about the Awawa cult and he directed
the taskforce Chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, to arrest the hoodlums.
“The
operation was carried out around 12am. The hoodlums attacked the policemen with
weapons, but in the end, they were overpowered.”
It
was learnt that the father of two of the suspects, identified only as Alhaji
Popoola, told the police that he had given up on them and the law should take
its course.
The
66-year-old father was at the taskforce office, telling the police that he came
to tell his sons that their end had come.
He
said, “I have warned the two of them several times to desist from gang
activities, but they refused. I am shocked that I have two sons among the
suspects arrested by the police. They are no longer my sons.
“I
only came as a disciplined man to tell the two of them that their end has come.
I think it is a lesson to wayward children to always heed their parents’
advice.”
One
of the suspects, 30-year-old Sanni, alias Last Born, from
Okene, Kogi State, confessed to be a leader of the gang, adding that he had
raped five women in the course of their operations.
He
said, “The person who brought me into the Awawa cult stays in
Oloosha, Mushin area and his name is Olata. I lead the Awawa boys in Dopemu.
“Some
of my boys also sell Indian hemp at pubs and nightclubs. They sell for as low
as N100 and we take Indian hemp before going for any robbery operation.
“I
have raped about five girls in the area. My boys and I collected N3,000 every
day from shop owners in the Dopemu area. We burgled shops in Aluminum Village.”
It
was learnt that the suspects would be charged to court on Monday (today).
The
Public Affairs Officer of the taskforce, Adebayo Taofiq, confirmed the arrests.
He
urged residents of Lagos to avail police of necessary information on
cult
activities.
Tags
Society