The Ogun State Police Command has announced the arrest of 30 males during a suspected cult initiation procession at Isara-Remo. The operation was carried out by the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), in collaboration with detectives from Isara Area Command and Isara Division.
Details of the Ogun Operation
In a statement released yesterday, Oluseyi Babaseyi, spokesperson for the command, confirmed that the operation took place on June 16, 2026, at approximately 4:00 p.m. The arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that a group of suspected hoodlums was holding an unlawful gathering involving initiation processes in an uncompleted building at Isara-Remo.
Babaseyi stated that the VCRU swiftly mobilized a combined team of operatives from the Isara Area Command and Isara Division to the location. The team dispersed the gathering and arrested the suspects. Additionally, four vehicles allegedly abandoned at the scene during the suspects' attempted escape were recovered.
Other exhibits recovered include a jackknife, a local drum, a rattle (sekere), and bottles suspected to have been used for alcohol during the event.
According to Babaseyi, the suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Abeokuta for further investigation. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend some fleeing suspects.
Commissioner of Police Bode Ojajuni commended the operation, describing it as a clear demonstration of the command's sustained intelligence-led policing strategy and zero tolerance for violent crimes and unlawful assemblies. He reiterated that cultism and related activities will not be condoned in any part of the state.
Anambra Murder Case
In a separate incident, the Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspected assailants behind the murder of a 33-year-old woman. The deceased, whose name has been withheld, was from Oraifite community in Ekwusigo Local Council of the state. She was reported missing three months ago, and all efforts to trace her whereabouts proved abortive.
The deceased's mother lodged a report of her missing daughter with the Divisional Police Headquarters at Oraifite on March 13, 2026. Later, an unidentified lifeless body of a woman was found inside a culvert near Jesus Bus Stop in Oraifite. The body was identified by the deceased's father as his daughter.
Tochukwuu Ikenga, spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, confirmed the arrests. He stated that following the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Awka for investigation, operatives leveraged intelligence and digital forensic leads and eventually arrested the two suspects on June 6, 2026.
Ikenga identified the suspects as Thankgod Ikechukwu Ikwugwara, 26, and Makuochukwu Uzoigwe, 20. Upon his arrest, Ikwugwara claimed to have been in a relationship with the deceased for about three years but denied any knowledge that she was married.
He further alleged that after a disagreement with the deceased's husband, he developed a strange illness that affected his sight and, out of resentment, plotted the attack. The suspect further confessed that on March 13, 2026, he lured the deceased to his residence under the guise of seeking help due to illness. Upon her arrival, he and the second suspect allegedly attacked her with a machete, resulting in her death. The suspects subsequently disposed of the body in a culvert near Jesus Bus Stop, Oraifite, in the early hours of the following day.
