Lagos State Police Command has arrested 135 suspected cultists and recovered a cache of firearms and dangerous weapons during coordinated raids across the state to prevent the annual 7 July cult initiation activities.
Speaking with journalists at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja, the commissioner of police, Fatai Tijani, said the operation formed part of proactive security measures to frustrate the activities of cult groups, which traditionally use 7 July to induct new members.
According to the police boss, the command deployed convoy patrols, visibility policing and aggressive raids on identified criminal hideouts across Lagos, leading to the arrest of suspects at various initiation points.
“As I’ve always told you, we are going to stop at nothing other than getting rid of the cultists from the streets of Lagos. As you all know, yesterday, 7 July, is usually the day new members are initiated into various cult groups. We took advantage of that by deploying convoy patrols, visibility policing and aggressive raids across criminal hideouts in the state, and this has yielded very good results,” Tijani said.
The Commissioner described cultism as one of the major security challenges confronting Lagos, warning that the Command would sustain its offensive against criminal gangs.
“The major problem we are having in Lagos State for now is this issue of cultism. We have carried out advocacy and sensitisation, and parents have been warned repeatedly to discourage their children from associating with these cult groups. We will not relent in our efforts to get them off the streets. As much as we arrest them, we will continue to arrest them, and they will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” he stated.
While providing details of the operation, Tijani said the Command arrested 135 suspects during raids conducted between Monday night and Tuesday morning at different locations across the state.
“Our proactive policing yielded the results we are seeing today. During our patrols yesterday, we arrested about 135 suspected cultists at various locations within Lagos State.’’
