Months after youths belonging Eiye, Aye and other confraternities publicly renounced membership of the gangs in Ikorodu, their counterparts in Imota community, a suburb of Ikorodu, Lagos Mainland, have also renounced their membership of the cult groups, surrendering their weapons in public.
More than 200 youths in Imota community belonging to Buccanner, Eiye and Aye groups among others yesterday, Wednesday, November 29, 2017, publicly renounced their membership in presence of the Lagos State Police chief, Imohimi Edgal, Ikorodu monarchs as well as other stakeholders in the community.
Eyes Of Lagos gathered that the renunciation by the cultists stemmed from the recent violent cult clash in Imota community which claimed three lives from the rival gangs.
Moments after the public renouncement, the repentant cultists were marched to the Iledi Osugbo shrine in Imota community where they were made to swear an oath never to return t cultism. They were subsequently taken to the Palace of HRM Oba Ajibade Agoro, to properly reintegrate them into the society.
Speaking on the development, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Imohimi Edgal said that the voluntary renouncement by the cultists could be accompanied by vocational coaching to allow them purchase new abilities. “After I assumed responsibility as Commissioner of Police in Lagos, I found that cultism and drug abuse are probably the most difficult crimes,” he said.
“The necessary factor is that the method whereby youths at the moment are willingly renouncing cultism to take up vocational abilities have began. The vocational job is to be instituted by the council chairman, the lawmaker and different stakeholders in Imota,” he added.
In his remarks, the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro urged youths in the neighborhood to shun cultism and embrace peace stressing that the move is a welcome development to the community.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Ikorodu Constituency II, Hon. Nurudeen Solaja said the development would signal a new dawn in Imota and other neighbouring communities. “Ikorodu Constituency II is set to experience the unimaginable transformation in no time.
“We are going to prepare these cultists who willingly renounced their membership to grow to be higher people. Most of those cultists are artisans who don’t have an idea of how or what cultism is all about; we need to ensure that peace returns to Imota group which is my constituency.”
