No fewer than seven suspected cult members are feared killed in the supremacy battle between members of the Eiye and Aiye confraternities in the Somolu and Bariga areas of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the clashes had created tension in the areas as residents and business owners expressed concern over the level of insecurity in the communities.

An eyewitness, Gbenga Lawal, said a suspected cultist, Makinde Abiodun, was killed while having a drink with his friends in the Wemimo area of Ladylak, Bariga.

Lawal stated, “The fight happened in front of my house; the guy (Makinde) was having a drink with his friends at a pub around 8pm on Thursday when the cultists came and started beating him with charms. Seeing this, I took my kids and ran inside and it was later that I heard people saying that Makinde had been killed.

“When I came out, I heard people saying that after the cultists had beaten him with charms, they used machetes to cut him in the head and body till he died. We did not hear any gunshot; they used machetes on him and when they were done, they ran away.”

Another resident, who identified himself simply as Agunbiade, said a suspected cult member, Kazeem, had been killed before the events leading to Makinde’s death, adding that five suspected cultists had been killed after Makinde’s murder.

He said, “The fight is between the Eiye and Aiye cult members and all these cultists rarely use guns to kill themselves; what they use mostly is machete. Last week, the cultists used machete to kill a rival, Kazeem, at Idi-Aba. On Thursday, another cultist, Makinde popularly called Ma-Ke, was also attacked and killed with machete around the Wemimo area.

“The cultists also used machete to kill another member, Salami, at Odunsi on Saturday. At Ilaje, around the Majock filling station, a cultist, Tessy, was killed with machete. Another cultist, S-Money, was also killed around the canal area of Atifase, and two others were shot dead around the canal area of Somolu.”

Another resident, Saheed Babajide, while lamenting that residents and business owners were now living in fear due to the reprisals by the suspected cultists, said they usually take advantage of the crisis to rob unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables.

He urged security agencies to restore normalcy in the area.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the Otun Baale of Ayetoro, Kola Odunuga, reported at the Bariga Police Station that a corpse was on the street, adding that a close examination of the corpse by policemen revealed that the deceased was Makinde Abiodun.

He added that nine suspects had been arrested in connection with the clashes, while two corpses recovered from the scene of the attacks had been deposited in the mortuary.

Elkana said, “On Thursday, June 6, 2019, around 10.15pm, one Chief Kola Odunuga, the Otun Baale of Ayetoro, reported that the dead body of a young man was sighted by the street corner at No. 31 Ayodele Street, off Wemimo Street.

“A patrol team was mobilised to the scene and the corpse was recovered. A close examination revealed the identity of the deceased as a notorious cultist, Makinde Abiodun, alias Ma-ke, 30. The corpse was evacuated to the Military Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination.

“So far, our investigation revealed that members of two rival cults were attacking each other on revenge missions following the killing of the ring leaders. We have nine of those cult members, who carried out the killings, in our custody and we are going after more. Only two people were confirmed dead during the clashes because we were the ones who removed the corpses.”