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Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, while realing out the successes recorded said the Command had painstakingly put in place measures to reclaim the destiny of youths who have chosen the path of crime by engaging in various cult activities.

Muazu said Cultism was evil and a crime against the collective will of the people, saying when cultism thrives, surely other heinous crimes like Murder, Rape, Robbery, Kidnapping and so on would thrive too.

According to him, defeating cultism would therefore mean defeating all heinous crimes in the State, as virtually every major crime recorded in the State had a link to cultism.

He said since he assumed duty as Commissioner of Police in February, the Command had arrested two hundred and two notorious cult members and had been charged to Court and at different stages of prosecution, saying the command had recovered fifty-four assorted weapons.

Muazu said other successes recorded by the Command included the arrest of one hundred and five suspects for armed robbery and seven suspects for kidnapping, saying the Command also successfully foiled ninety-three armed robbery attempts through prompt response to distress calls from the public at different locations in the state. 

He said tackling cultism required a holistic approach, saying the command intend to adopt community policing approach which would include sensitisation programs in collaboration with Police Community Relations Committee and other stakeholders in Schools, Neighborhoods and Media.

Muazu said the command would equally establish Police Students Relations Committee, comprising all the Students Union Presidents and other Students leaders, and also organise town hall meetings in areas mostly affected by cult activities, saying the meetings would discuss extensively, the root causes of cultism and gangsterism in the affected areas and the possible solutions.

According to him, the various cult groups and gangs identified within the state include: Aiye and Eiye confraternities, One million boys at Ajengule, Fadeyi boys at Fadeyi area, Akala boys at Mushin area, Nokia group at Surulere area, Shitta boys at Bariga, Oworonshoki, Shomolu and Palm grove areas, Awawa boys at Dopemu, Ageg, Ogba and Iyana Ipaja.

He said they had observed the activities of those cult groups and gangs for the last one month and credible intelligence was gathered, saying they had reviewed strategies and initiated far reaching approach to totally eradicate the menace.

The Police Boss said the command had rejig its Anti Cultism Unit to effectively combat those miscreants who had chosen the wrong path of life, saying they were taking the fight to their door steps, to fish them out, isolate them, bring them to justice and that they were battle ready to uproot every cultists den and hideouts until they were totally defeated.