The Kwara State Police Command has arrested three suspected members of the Eiye Confraternity over the alleged abduction and murder of a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, while intensifying efforts to apprehend nine other fleeing members of the gang.
The arrests followed what the police described as a painstaking investigation by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), which unravelled the circumstances surrounding the victim’s disappearance.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed this in a statement issued in Ilorin.
According to the statement, the suspects arrested are Adeoye Babatunde Alimi, 23, also known as “Solar”; Bernard Kayode, 25, popularly called “KK”; and Owoyemi Bashiru, 27, nicknamed “GDP”.
The police said the suspects were apprehended on Monday, June 29, during coordinated tactical operations carried out at identified cult hideouts across the Ilorin metropolis based on credible intelligence.
Preliminary investigations, according to the command, linked the suspects to the abduction of 29-year-old Sodiq Olaniyi, an indigene of Oyo State, who had been declared missing since June 4.
The statement said the suspects confessed to their roles during interrogation and revealed that the victim was killed after being abducted by members of the cult.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are members of a violent cult group allegedly responsible for the abduction of Sodiq Durodola Olaniyi (29), an indigene of Oyo State who had been missing since 4th June, 2026.”
The Command further disclosed that investigations revealed the gang consists of 12 members, with only three currently in custody and nine others still on the run.
“Tactical efforts have since been intensified to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang, dismantling of the criminal network and recover the corpse of the victim,” the statement added.
The police also stated that the arrested suspects were providing investigators with useful information concerning other violent crimes allegedly committed by the group within the Ilorin metropolis.
The Command assured residents that investigations are ongoing and pledged that all those found culpable would be prosecuted in accordance with the law at the conclusion of the investigation.
