A henchman of the Neo Black Movement, popularly known as Aiye Confraternity, in the Ajangbadi area of Lagos State, Emmanuel Nwokolo, has confessed that he was involved in the killing of four members of rival cult groups, even though his gang has been linked to the killing of more than 10 people in the Ajangbadi, Shibiri, Ishashi and Ilogbo axis, in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The Aiye cult group has also been linked to many violent crimes around Ajangbadi, Shibiri and other communities in the LGA.
Nwokolo and three other members of his gang, Ayoola Israel, Ebuka Nnamdi and Chinedu Okafor, were arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command’s Tactical Squad in Ajangbadi on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, following incessant cult clashes across the aforementioned areas. The police are also on the trail of other leaders and members of the group, including David, Emma, Paragon, Fela, Santa and a suspect better known as Awilo.
A police source at the Ijanikin Tactical Squad, who pleaded anonymity, said, “Before now, there was an increase in cult-related killings around Ajangbadi, Shibiri and Ilogbo, in Ojo Local Government Area, and the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, directed our O/C to go after the perpetrators of the killings and put a halt to the violent crimes.”
He continued: “The unit swung into action with an analysis of the data that was generated from the scenes of killings, as well as the patterns of the attacks. Through intelligence reports, we were able to track and trail one of the leaders of the gang, Emmanuel Nwokolo, to a hotel in the area, where he was arrested alongside another member of his gang, Ayoola Israel.”
Their arrest led to the capture of two other members, Nnamdi and Okafor, who were also reportedly acting as armourers to the gang, whenever Ayoola Israel was not around or could not safeguard the gang’s arms and ammunition. The police team recovered a firearm and ammunition from Ayoola and Nnamdi, who had hidden the weapon in a hole in the ground after learning of the arrest of Emmanuel and Ayoola.
Upon his arrest, Emmanuel told newsmen the extent of his involvement in cult activities. He said: “It is true that I am a member of the Aiye cult group. My name is Emmanuel Nwokolo. I am into internet business (but not really fraud). I was introduced to the Aiye Confraternity by one of my friends, Hurry, who is now late.
“I met Hurry during a visit to one of my friends’ place in Lagos Island about three years ago. We became close friends. When I returned to my base, we still kept in touch. It was just a casual friendship. I was not a member of any cult group then. It was after some time that he told me that I should join Aiye, because I was handsome.
“Hurry told me that if I wanted to make it and see any improvement in my life, I should join the NBM (Aiye) but I have not seen any improvement in my life since I joined them.”
Emmanuel, while reacting to the accusation that his gang had killed more than 10 people, claimed that he only “participated in the killing of four people.”
“The four people were members of rival cult groups in our area. The first person we killed was Soweto, a member of the Eiye Confraternity who also had a gun. On the day that we killed him, Emma, one of our members, came to tell us that he had sighted Soweto where he was sitting. He said that Soweto had attempted to kill him at a point in time, when he chased him with the gun. He was on a motorbike when he saw Soweto.”
On how they killed the rival cult member, Emmanuel said, “We lured him to a place after we lied to him that we wanted to buy hard drugs. He was into hard drug business. Four of us, Emma, Paragon, Santa and myself, went for the operation to kill Soweto. I was the one recording the killing.
“There was another person that we killed because his own group, Aro Berger, formed an alliance with the Eiye Confraternity to fight us. The Eiye Confraternity is our main rival in that area. It was the same Emma that pointed at him before we killed him.
“ The third person was an Eiye member. It was David that recognized him. His name was Bisi and he was selling hard drugs too. It was David that sighted him and our leader, AB, aka Awilo, led us to where he was sighted and we killed him.”
The suspect confessed that Emma and David were the most active members of the group. They were the ones that identified the people to be killed.
“I only followed them to kill four people. The only thing I did in those killings was just to record.”
He also claimed that, “Whenever my group killed any rival member, I couldn’t sleep in my house for days. The memory brought fear and restlessness to me. It haunted me emotionally, too.”
Ayoola, a fisherman by trade, also confessed to being in the gang and claimed that he was just in charge of keeping guns and ammunition for the group.
He said, “I am 39 years old. I am a fisherman and I am not one of the leaders of the gang. I only helped in keeping the guns and bullets for the gang. I was forced to keep the guns and the bullets with me by one of the leaders of the gang, Emma. I didn’t follow them to any scene of killing but I know that group killed some Eiye members.”
According to him, he joined the cult after assurances of a better life and more connections: “I was initiated into the NBM with a promise that I would have the opportunity of relating with top and influential people. That was why I agreed to join. When the police came to my house, they recovered 11 bullets and one revolver pistol.”
Ebuka, a 31-year-old warehouse keeper at the Alaba International Market, also confessed to being a member of the gang. He, however, claimed that he never participated in any of the killings by his gang. He also admitted that he helped in the safekeeping of the guns and bullets used by the group.”
On how he became a member of NBM, he said: “There was a day we were drinking at one hotel, when David called me to join them at another hotel to continue drinking. I knew David around my street in Ilaje, Ajangbadi. It was late then but he persuaded me to follow them, saying a friend would drive us back home in his car.
“I joined them in the car and, along the line, the trip was taking too long. We drove for about an hour. I was worried and I kept asking him where we were going. He just told me to calm down. Later, he confessed to me that they were taking me to where I would be initiated into the cult group. That was in 2022. It was Israel that gave me the guns to keep.”
He confessed that he knew the group had been killing people: “I have never followed them to any of the killings. There was a clash between different cult groups in Ajangbadi. Each group was killing rival members.”
Twenty-one years old Chinedu Okafor, a trader at Alaba International Market, also confessed to being a member of the gang and claimed to have been initiated in Owerri, Imo State, where he had gone to take care of his mother who was critically ill at that time.
CP Tijani, while briefing journalists on the arrest of the suspects, stated that the police recovered two locally-made pistols, a revolver pistol and 13 live cartridges from them.
Tijani also stated that the police were on the trail of the other members of the gang and reaffirmed the commitment of the police to rid Lagos State of criminals.
He commended the Tactical Squad in Ijanikin for decimating the rank of cults around Shibiri, Ajangbadi and Ilogbo.
“The arrest is one of the successes recorded in our battle against cultism and other violent crimes in the state. We are on the trail of other members of the gang,” he said.
