Olusegun ARIYO

Lagos State Police Command has paraded 118 suspects arrested across different parts of the state for alleged involvement in cultism, armed robbery, murder, kidnapping, vandalism, illegal possession of firearms, street violence and related criminal activities.

Addressing journalists while parading the suspects on Wednesday, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, said the arrests were the outcome of sustained intelligence-led operations and coordinated raids across identified crime flashpoints in Lagos.

Among those paraded was 38-year-old Emmanuel Ogbu, who reportedly confessed to returning to cult activities after previously serving a jail term in 2018 for a similar offence.

His case, according to the police, is part of a wider pattern of recidivism being tracked by investigators.

The command disclosed that a series of coordinated operations carried out on April 27, 2026, around Ilasan, Lekki and Maroko led to the arrest of 58 suspects linked to street violence, phone snatching, armed attacks and harassment of residents within the Lekki axis.

Police said the suspects allegedly operated in groups, targeting unsuspecting members of the public, especially around traffic corridors, where they were accused of dispossessing victims of mobile phones and valuables before fleeing the scene.

Items recovered from the suspects include 11 locally fabricated Beretta pistols, one cut-to-size pistol, one standard Beretta pistol, two Dane guns, nine telecom power batteries, four cutlasses, one knife, 21 bags of suspected Indian hemp, assorted charms and other incriminating exhibits.

In a related development, the police said operatives arrested two suspects, 23-year-old Elijah Emmanuel and 21-year-old Tony Ekwane Oghanetega, in connection with a kidnapping operation in the Lucy Fibre area of Ikorodu.

Investigators alleged that the duo were involved in the abduction and killing of 17-year-old Thomson Omokhafe Adams on April 22, 2026.

The command further stated that interrogation linked the same suspects to another kidnapping and murder incident recorded on November 30, 2025, during which a female victim was allegedly killed after a ransom of N300,000 had been collected.

The police commissioner also briefed on a separate investigation into the theft of over 650 telecom power assets between 2025 and 2026.

He said the probe led to the arrest of Orji Emeka in Ikeja, who reportedly led detectives to Alausa, where Obiagwu Kingsley was also apprehended, while another suspect, Oluwatosin Sani, was arrested in the Gbogbo area of Ikorodu, with nine telecom power batteries recovered from him.

The command further confirmed the arrest of eight suspected cultists during a raid in Iwaya on April 22, 2026, as well as 20 other suspects linked to cult-related violence and armed robbery on Lagos Island on April 20, 2026.

According to the police, the suspects are believed to be members of rival confraternities, including the Aiye and Eiye groups, and were allegedly involved in violent clashes and attacks recorded earlier in April.

Tijani said investigations are ongoing and assured that all suspects would be charged in court upon conclusion of interrogations and forensic analysis.