End of the Road for Deadly Cultists

Nemesis finally caught up with four members of a dreaded cult in Ogun State, writes Femi Ogbonnikan

The common saying, “every day is for the thief and one day is for the owner of the house”, aptly captured the recent arrest of a 27-year-old notorious and serial killer, Yusuf Dosumu, who specialises in chopping off one of the hands of his victims after killing, as his own trade mark. Dosumu (aka No Regret) is a member of Eye Confraternity, with his own splinter group, ‘Achiever’, is based in Ogijo, Ogun State, a neighbouring town sharing a common border with Ikorodu, in Lagos State.

Dosumu whose paternal and maternal homes are from Fadegbuwa and Okebu villages, all under Ogijo community and three other members of his gang, Moruf Karounwi, Bello Jamiu and Tayo Akinsanya, are currently the guests of the operatives attached to the Federal Special Anti – Robbery Squad (FSARS), Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, Imagbon, Abeokuta, are presently singing like canaries in protective custody.

Nemesis was said to have caught up with the quartets, as they were apprehended on Wednesday, December 14, 2016, at a hideout in Ogijo by operatives attached to Ogijo Station, led by their Divisional Police Officer (DPO), in-charge, Mr. Tijani Raji, SP, following a tip-off. On the very day of their arrest, seven persons were allegedly killed by the suspects.

No Regret, as he is fondly referred, the dreaded head of the ‘Achiever’, it was gathered, has well over 17 members (Usman Ateroko, Aloma, Afeez Ajinise Oluwo, Akeem Ikerike, Karounwi Moruf, Bello Jamiu, Tayo Akinsanya, Rainbow and others), who have in the past one year unleashed mayhem on the residents of Ikorodu, Igbogbo, Imota, Ibeshe, Agric-Owutu, Isiu, Adamo, Maya, all in Lagos and Ogijo and Emuren, in Ogun State, respectively.
Information obtained by THISDAY revealed that the ring leader lives an affluence life and also, apart from three Pump Action Rifles (PARs), a Beretta pistol and potent charms which he uses to intimidate the residents, were recovered from him, four of the PARs are still being kept in the hideOut. Two buildings, one each in his paternal (Fadegbuwa) and his maternal (Okebu) villages, were said to belong to him and a Toyota Camry saloon car (Muscle model) and a Toyota Jeep.

It was learnt, that the 27-year-old suspect, who started off as a land speculator (omo onile), is alleged to be a hired assassin and a cultist. It was said, no single wife stays with him, just as soon as a lady gives birth to a child for him, so he lays her off and takes on another one.
On account of his affluence and notoriety within the affected communities spread in Ikorodu (Lagos State) and Ogijo (Ogun State), THISDAY reliably gathered that the ring leader is dreaded to an extent that, he also walks around with escorts in army uniforms, who guard him whenever he is going for social parties or whenever he lodges in an hotel.

It was gathered that, no fewer than two members of the dreaded ‘ONYA BO’, a vigilante group in Ikorodu, Lagos State, had been killed by Dosumu. One of his victims, Musiliu, who was a member of the ‘ONYA BO’ vigilante group, was killed some weeks ago, in Ikorodu, by Dosumu who chopped off his right hand after the murder.

Other records of his past killings, it was revealed that, on three separate incidents on July 7, 2016, 18 persons were allegedly killed by Dosumu. The incidents include the murder of 10 persons in Emuren, in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State, during a rival bloody clash with the Black Axe group, the killing of seven persons at Fakale Village, Ogun State and a single murder of one person at Okegbodo. Also, on July 6, 2016, 13 persons were allegedly killed by him in Emuren.
Also, in Igbogbo, in Ikorodu, Lagos State, sometime in September last year, it was said, six persons were killed by the 27-year-old suspect.

A carpenter, Shamsildeen Saliu, who was on a roof top, working, in his maternal home, Okebu Village, sometime in June last year, it was further learnt, Dosumu (also referred to as Baba Lateef) ordered him to come down and he killed him.

However, while parading the four suspects, along with others at a press briefing held at the Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, Alhaji Ahmed Iliyasu, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, said that the suspects who had in the recent past been killing for fun and terrorising the residents of Ogijo and its environs were arrested, following a tip-off. He disclosed that the gang was responsible for the death of more than 20 people in the Ogijo Area.

The CP gave the four names of the suspects, as Yusuf Dosumu, Moruf Karounwi, Bello Jamiu and Tayo Akinsanya, while the number of weapons recovered from the gang include a Beretta Pistol, a locally made cut-to-size single barrel gun, four expended cartridges, three Pump Action Rifles (PARs) and assorted charms.

In an encounter with a member of the four suspects, Bello Jamiu, 30 years old, he claimed to be a product of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu campus where he obtained a National Diploma (ND) in Business Studies in year 2011.

According to the Sagamu, Ogun-state-born suspect, he admitted to be a member of the Eiye Confraternity. Jamiu, who is married with two children, said he works as a Computer Engineer at J&B Computer Engineering Ltd, located at Iyana School, Ogijo.

Baba Darasimi, as he is fondly called, said it was Dosumu that initiated him into the group.
Apart from the ring leader, Dosumu, two other members are Moruf Karounwi, 28 years old and a furniture maker, who hails from Ago-Oko Area of Abeokuta and Tayo Akinsanya, 25 years old and a generating set repairer, who hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State.

Karounwi, in his own account, attributed lack of parental care, as the source of his travail.
“I lost my mother when I was young, but it was my step-mother who brought me up. I grew up in Ogijo community and it was there I joined the cult group. I was initiated about two years ago, and I belong to the ‘Achievers’ group of the Eiye Confraternity. Yusuf Dosumu is our leader,” said the 28-year-old suspect.
On his part, Akinsanya, the fourth suspect confessed to be a member of the Eiye Confraternity.
“I stay along Omoleye Street, Ogijo. I am a member of the Eiye Confraternity and Yusuf is our leader. It was greed and lack of contentment that lured me into the group. I regret being a member, but there is nothing I could do to renounce my membership of the group, otherwise I will be toying with my life, if I dare quitting it,” said the 25-year-old suspect.

The leadership of the ‘ONYA BO’ vigilante group from Ikorodu, Lagos State, led by some officials of group, who were armed with autopsy reports of their slain two members and in attendance during the parade, confronted the ring leader with records of his escapades at any point he wanted to deny.
According the vigilante group officials, Dosumu was dreaded in all the affected communities in Ikorodu, Lagos State, on account of his deadly act in the recent.

“We were even afraid to confront him. We had for long been on his trail, but he was evasive. When he noticed that the heat was too much on him, he employed two soldiers who were always guarding and beefing security around him. If he slept in one hotel today, the following day he would relocate to another one. He was also sighted in some social gatherings and the soldiers were around him. We were told he was paying the soldiers handsomely to guard him. He is rich because he and his boys were also engaged in hired killings, apart from being land speculators,” said the source.

The source further added that available records at their disposal revealed that Dosumu used his affluence to lobby and attain the number two rank position in the cult group, and he thus, wielded much control and influence.
An informed police source also hinted that the ring leader who had been giving the residents of Ogijo community and its immediate environment sleepless nights, had in the last one year been on the wanted list of the police.
Residents of the Ogijo community who also besieged the Eleweran Command Headquarters, Abeokuta, to see the face of Dosumu, the leader, expressed happiness over his arrest and his boys, and they added that they can now sleep with their two eyes closed.

However, Iliyasu, Ogun State Police boss, stated that the four suspects had confessed to the crime, but he noted that investigation had intensified into the matter with a view to tracking down other fleeing members of the gang.

He added that once investigation is concluded into the matters the suspects would be charged to court.