From Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
A Kwara State Magistrate’s court in Ilorin has ordered the remand of 14 suspected cultists who allegedly attacked members of a family and are charged with culpable homicide and other capital offences.
The suspects, identified as Mustapha Onide, Abdulmalik Abdulfatai, Kehinde Onimango, Ahmed Onide, Tunde Onide, Jimoh Sapo, Ibrahim Onide, Abdulgafar Fatai, Abdulrasak Abubakar, Yusuf Onimango, Hammed Onimango, Hussein Bello, Adam Olanrewaju, and Jimoh Olayinka, were arraigned before the court.
According to the Police First Information Report (FIR), the complainants, Basheer, Kareem, and Quadri Onimangos of Onimango compound, Ilorin, reported that they were attacked after an unsuccessful transaction at a Point of Sales (POS) involving N6,000 with one Ibrahim Rasheed. The suspects allegedly assaulted and insulted the victims, causing injuries to their faces. Additionally, they stole items including phones valued at N2.3 million, a Rolex wristwatch, N500,000 in cash, and vandalised their vehicles.
The FIR further revealed that the arrested suspects, along with others who are still at large, are members of the Aiye and Eiye secret cults. These cult groups have recently been involved in a series of attacks, causing harm to innocent people and damaging properties in Ilorin and its environs.
During the court proceedings, the suspects’ counsels made a bail application which was ultimately denied by Magistrate Issa Agbetola. He ordered that the suspects be remanded in a correctional facility until May 8, 2024.