Politician, Others Encourage Osun Gang War

 Shina Abubakar
 





The recent cult clashes in Osogbo and its environs have generated a lot of dust over the safety of lives and properties in the state capital as clash between rival gangs in the last 24 months has claimed the lives of about four young men.
 
Investigation revealed that the gang war is an ongoing phenomenon between the groups as no gang wants to concede defeat to the other in the battle for supremacy and attempt to claim dominance over one another in the self claimed territorial ownership.



It was gathered that what metamorphose into cult clash is the usual area thugs skirmish that evolve between boys in one area against others from another environment, but the recent proliferation of cultism among youth gave another dimension to the crisis.

it was gathered that the recent inter cult clash in Osogbo is a product of misunderstanding between two cult members sometimes last year over a girl in the state capital which eventually led to the killing of one Saheed Oba, who belongs to the eye cult, around Abaku area of Owode.  
     
Subsequently, the group launched a revenge attack on the Aiye cult leading to the death one Sodiq at Sadiat, who was said not to be a member of the cult but a close associate of the fraternity and allegedly one of their financiers. This was followed by the death of another guy at Dada Estate area of the state and the death of Ahmed Omo Olugbodi, who was recently released from prison custody.


At present, the Aiye seems to have a upper hand and another attack is imminent as the eiye is said to be preparing for revenge to square up with their rival cult.

Checks further revealed that one of the reason cultism thrive is as a result of political patronage the gangs enjoyed and each group struggle to outclass one another to attract politicians as the most viable to be engaged during political activities.

It was even gathered that the menace is attractive to the extent that secondary school students are looking up to thugs as role model and would want to enroll in body building to succeed as a thug rather than an athlete.

According to one of the boys around testing ground who spoke on the condition of anonymity, there is nothing special about those boys engaged by politicians who used big cars and build houses that other cannot do, hence, many of the boys believed in showcasing their strength to attract politicians as a means of currying favour.

A retired principal, Pa Sulaiman Adekunle while speaking on the issue said if the menace is to stop, politicians and public office holders need to stop patronizing thugs and ensure that there are consequences for all their actions.

Findings revealed that cultism thrive in the state because some police officers, immigration officers and other paramilitary organization allegedly belong to some of this fraternity; hence, it is easy for cult guys to sneak out of cases in court.

It was also gathered that the situation is persistent because of the enormous financial support the cult groups enjoyed from some internet fraudsters’ popularly referred to as Yahoo boys, who used the cult guys as shield against police exploitation   
Shina Abubakar

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