An arrested suspected member of the Neo Black Movement (NBM), popularly known as Aye Confraternity, Salami Ridwan, has disclosed how he was initiated into the cult group and got a pistol after becoming Number Four in the cult’s hierarchy.

The suspected cultist was arrested by the Oyo State Police Command when a credible report was recently received at the Monitoring Unit, led by ACP Olusola Aremu, at about 8 p.m., that the kingpin of a criminal gang was sighted at Apinite area of Saki Township.

It was learnt that a team of operatives swung into action and arrested Ridwan, while a Beretta pistol loaded with five rounds of live ammunition was recovered from him.

After Ridwan’s arrest, the Monitoring Unit operatives, through intelligence gathering, stormed the hideout of suspected cultists and apprehended three of them, two of whom were twin brothers. Others reportedly fled the town while two more guns were recovered.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the cult group was dreaded in the town, as they frequently unleashed terror on members of the public at different locations in Saki and other Oke Ogun areas.

The cultists were alleged to have been tormenting other students in the institution to the point that the school management met with students to address them. Since the suspects’ arrest, the Sunday Tribune learnt that peace has reigned in the institution.

The suspect, an ex-student of Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, confessed to his membership to Aye Confraternity when interrogated.

Ridwan also disclosed that the pistol recovered from him was normally used for protection and cult activities.

The 24-year-old suspect from Apinni in Oyo Town, also an OND graduate of Mechanical Engineering, told the Sunday Tribune: “Yes, it is true I belong to Aye Confraternity. I hold the Number Four position.”

He also spoke on what led to his arrest: “I was at home when I was called by one of Aye Confraternity members that a Yahoo guy ‘ripped’ another of N1.6 million. ‘Ripping’ is like swindling. I wasn’t around in Saki when I got the complaint, so I sent one of my boys to go to the offender. However, the guy that ‘ripped’ bribed the member that I sent with N30,000, and that one told me a lie that he had confiscated the offender’s phone. He even did a video recording and sent it to me, which made me believe him.

“When I returned to Saki, I called the aggrieved guy, and he told me the offender was also back in town. He had earlier left. That day, I went with another cultist to go to him to ask why he did not pay back the money he ‘ripped’ from the aggrieved and, instead, bribed the Aye member sent to him.

“On our way, I told the Aye member I was going with, Sammy, to let us quickly board a bike, as police officers used to ply the road. An elderly man picked us, and as we were going, the town indigenes rode on another bike past us and almost hit ours. Our bike rider cursed them and they replied with curses.

“Angry at the behaviour, the guy accompanying me got down and brought out a cutlass. The indigenes felt offended by seeing the cutlass and charged at him. They tried to take the cutlass and wanted to start inflicting cuts on him. He became so afraid and I got down. I told him to run away. I pulled out the Beretta pistol I had with me and they quickly retreated. They waited for me to shoot, but when I didn’t, they moved near me. I corked the gun; they still moved near. I made to shoot, but there was no sound. That was when they came and attacked me. I was thereafter arrested by the police.”

Disclosing how he joined Neo Black Movement, the suspect said: “I was initiated into Aye Confraternity in 2022, in Ibadan. On the day of initiation, I followed one Ahmed, a neighbourhood brother in Oyo Town, to Ibadan to celebrate his supposed birthday, but I was not told of what was planned for me. Ahmed was an ‘area boy’ who used to travel to Lagos and Ibadan and return home.

“We sat in a club at Sango area in the city, drinking. It didn’t look like there was any special ceremony. I was drunk when I and others were taken into a bush that night and told to move with our heads bent, holding ourselves. We were many and wore only boxers. We got to a spot and were told to lie down. They started beating us with whips. They put kolanut in our mouths, made a cut on our right thumbs and told us to put the bleeding thumbs in our mouths as an oath. We swore that we would never betray Neo Black Movement (Aye Confraternity). After that, we were told to crawl towards those initiating us. Then, they told us we had become Aye members.

“Then, I was in ND1. I didn’t reveal my membership to anyone in my area, and I do not participate in any activity. It was on my return to school to go for my HND programme that I was given the fourth position and a Beretta pistol by our Number 1, Abeeb a.k.a A Cash. He said I should always be with him as a bodyguard. He would not participate in anything but give directives only. I was always with him also.”

One of the twin brothers, Azotama Dickson Chinedu, aged 23, also admitted his membership of the cult, along with his twin, Nelson Chidiebere. However, he said they were lured into it, and were scared to disclose it to anyone.

Chinedu explained: “I am from Imo State but born and brought up in Lagos State. I’m a National Diploma graduate in Public Administration. I graduated from the Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki. I’m about going back for my HND.

“I’m a member of the Aye Confraternity along with my identical twin brother, Nelson Chidiebere. We joined the cult group in 2023. It was in Lagos State. It was a friend who deceived us into following him to a birthday party. Instead of a party venue, the friend took me and my twin brother to an uncompleted building. From there, he called some guys who came to pick us to join NBM (Neo Black Movement). It was at night, and they were many. Those of us to be initiated were also many. We did not join willingly; we were threatened not to talk while in the bush. They made a video recording of us, threatening to kill us if we talked. They cut our right thumbs, put kolanut in our mouths and made us to swear to an oath that if we betray them, something bad would happen to us. We were also beaten. So, we had no choice than to capitulate.

“When we returned home, we could not tell our parents because we were scared. But we only joined, we didn’t deal or mingle with the members.”

On what led them to be active in the cult group when they got back to school in Saki, the twins said: “The video recorded when they took us to the bush in Lagos was on the group’s platform. They added our phone numbers to the platform. Since then, I changed my SIM, thinking that they would not be able to locate us when we came to school in Saki. But we saw some of them in Saki. We were forced to go to their meeting once, but since then, we have not been relating with others. We have never followed them on any activity. We are now regretting what we put our hands into.”

In his comment, the Commissioner of Police, Johnson Adenola, who declared war against cultism, said that the Oyo Command remains unrelenting in reducing the scourge among youths.

He urged the youths to desist from crime as it does not pay, while he sounded a note of warning that anyone arrested would be prosecuted.

He told the state residents that the Command would ensure the checking of criminal activities, as their security is paramount.

He also advised the residents to report any law infraction to the police for prompt action. (Sunday Tribune)