A 22-year-old armed robbery suspect, Abdulrafeez Abdulraham, on Sunday said he was going to watch football match at Araromi Village in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, when he was arrested by the Anti-Vice operatives of the Kwara State Police Command.
Though he denied being an armed robber, he admitted that he was arrested in possession of arms when he was nabbed.
He claimed that as he was going to watch the football competition, he ran into some gang members who were armed, adding that on sighting security operatives, they forced him to take the guns from them.
Abdulraham said, “I was going to the field to watch a football match on March 3. Some members of a gang, who were at my back, saw soldiers coming and they ordered me to take the guns from them; that if I did not take the arms, they would kill me.
“I was afraid and I collected the guns from them. Suddenly, the soldiers said we should stop and I threw away the guns, but they arrested me.”
Another suspect, Samuel Yahaya, 20, said he was framed by a person he identified simply as Raymond.
Yahaya, who is suspected to be a member of the Eiye Confraternity, said following a tip-off allegedly from Raymond, policemen arrested him.
Yahaya said, “I am here because someone framed me. His name is Raymond. He told a policeman that I had a gun.The police officer came to my house and arrested me. The police did not catch me with any gun.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sam Okaula, who also paraded three other suspected cultists – Joseph Ordue, Yusuf Olaitan and Isaah Ajanni – said the police recovered two cut-to-size double-barrelled gun from the suspected cultists.
He stated that acting on intelligence report, the Anti-Vice operatives stormed the rendezvous of the suspected cultists in the Oyun area of Ilorin while they were preparing to go out for an operation.
He said the suspects had confessed to being members of the Eiye Confraternity.
The CP warned people of “questionable characters” in Kwara to change their behaviour or relocate from the state, adding that the command was poised to apprehending and prosecuting them.
He also called on members of the public to collaborate with the police and offer useful information to security agencies.
Okaula said, “They are notorious members of Eiye Confranternity. They have confessed to being cultists. With these weapons, you can imagine the atrocities they had committed.
“I can assure the public that this war is ongoing and we need information, cooperation and collaboration to ensure peace in Kwara State.”
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