The Ekiti State Police Command has taken into custody eleven individuals suspected of involvement in the attack on a police station in Ikere, Ekiti, during the 2020 protest.
Among the seventeen individuals apprehended for various offenses in the state, including recent kidnappings and armed robberies, was a young woman. They were paraded before the press at the command’s headquarters in Ado Ekiti, the state’s capital.
During the presentation of the suspects, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Sunday Abutu, alleged that these detainees were also linked to recent incidents of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state.
Abutu identified the suspects as follows: Adewumi Gbenga, Samson Gideon, Ogundare Tobi, Adamolekun Lekan, Olanipekun Daniel, Daramola Tope, Mayowa Ojo, Alaba Ayobami, Aremo Olatunji Oladele, Adebayo Peter, and Abiodun Bosede.
He stated, “On September 15, 2023, at about 09:30 a.m., based on credible information that some suspected cultists who were known for robbing innocent citizens were planning another armed robbery attack from their hideout in Ikere-Ekiti, the Command’s Rapid Response Squad (RRS) swiftly mobilized to the scene and apprehended them.”
He continued, “Upon searching the suspects, an AK-47 rifle was recovered from them. Further investigation revealed that these suspects were involved in the attack and arson of the Afao Divisional Police Headquarters in Ikere-Ekiti during the #EndSARS protest in 2020. They had stolen an AK-47 rifle and other arms and valuables from the police station.”
Abutu also disclosed that the AK-47 rifle was used in a robbery where Olasunkanmi Joseph was killed and a cash sum of three million, five hundred thousand naira (#3,500,000.00) was stolen at Irona roundabout, Ado-Ekiti, on April 6, 2023.
Furthermore, he mentioned, “It was also uncovered that Adewumi Gboyega, a drug baron and the current leader of the group, orchestrated the kidnapping of one Falana Opeyemi on July 11, 2023, in Ikere, Ekiti. The whereabouts of the victim remain unknown to this day.”
The police spokesperson added that during questioning, the suspects confessed to being members of the supreme Eiye Confraternity cult group in Ikere-Ekiti.
He noted that RRS operatives are making intensified efforts to apprehend other fugitive suspects, such as Ojo Àlaba, Omotoso Sunday, and Alabi Babatunde, and to recover potentially stolen weapons and ammunition.
Additionally, one Faponmile Mathew was arrested for attempting to murder Ijadale Francis and Emmanuel Boluwatife, a filling station attendant, by severely assaulting them at Dove Filling Station, Aramoko-Ekiti.