Ogun Mulls Death Penalty For Cultists After 20 Killed

Following the killings of 20 persons in cult-related clashes in Ogiun state, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun said his government will soon enact a law for the death penalty for cultists.

The governor made the pronouncement following clashes by rival cult groups in Shagamu last week. Apart from those that paid the supreme price, others sustained various degrees of injuries, the magazine learned.

Security agencies in the state have since stepped patrol of communities in the state to prevent reprisal attacks.

The state’s helmsman disclosed this during his visit to the palace of Oba Babatunde Ajayi, the paramount ruler of Remoland, saying the death penalty will address the problem of cultism in the Gateway state.

According to him, the government will not fold its arms while some unscrupulous persons unleash mayhem on the state, vowing to bring all those involved in the deadly clash to face the law.

He said the state “will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that we bring any person directly, indirectly or remotely responsible for these occurrences to book. I have discussed with the Attorney General perhaps it is our disposition that allows for these occurrences of heinous crimes.”

“It is well within my powers as the governor of this state to pronounce the death penalty on people and we are going to ensure that we enact that because when people appreciate and understand the consequences of their behaviours, perhaps they will begin to have a rethink.

“The last time I came here, I said any house that we arrest anybody that is connected to either cultism or kidnapping, we will find out where they live and demolish that house.

“Sadly, it has been very difficult for me to implement because they rent an apartment and the unsuspecting landlords who don’t know what they do give their houses to them. After we have arrested them and are about to demolish the house, those landlords will come and beg us that they did not know the suspects were into that business.

“I am now pronouncing that we will no longer refer to these people as cultists or any other name. We are pronouncing them as murderers and we will mete out punishments that are deserving to murderers,” he stated.

Meanwhile, political analysts insist that the permanent solution to the problem of cultism in the country is for politicians to stop arming youths during elections to work for their parties.

These youths are usually abandoned by the politicians after the election to fend for themselves, causing them to turn against their communities with a view to survive.