Court remands three suspected Lagos cultists

Three suspected cult members were remanded on Monday by the Yaba Magistrate's Court for alleged murder, robbery, and unlawful possession of weapons.

They were charged with the murder of Victor Isa.

Balogun Ahmed, Kareem Sanni, and Shina Bankole, the defendants, were charged by the Lagos State Police Command with six counts each of illegal possession of a shotgun, theft, murder, and membership in an illegal organization known as the Eiye Confraternity. They were arraigned before Magistrate L. Y. Balogun.

The defendants committed the offence in December 2022 and April 2023, respectively, according to the prosecution, ASP Chekwube Okeh, who testified before the court.

 According to Okeh, the defendants used a locally produced pistol to shoot and kill Victor Isa on April 2, 2023, at about 10 p.m. at Saliu Obodo Street, Oke-Ira, Eti-Osa, Lagos.

The charge read in part, “That you, Balogun Ahmed, Kareem Sanni, and Shina Bankole, and others at large on April 2, 2023, at Oke-Ira, Lagos in the Lagos Magisterial District were found to be members of the dreaded Eiye confraternity which is an unlawful society prohibited by the Lagos State Government and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 2(3) (a) of the Unlawful Societies and Cultism Prohibition Laws of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.”

The defendants' pleas, meanwhile, were not accepted.

The prosecutor then asked that the defendants be held in custody until the investigation was finished and the Directorate of Public Prosecution had provided legal counsel.

The request was granted, and the defendants were remanded.

The case was then postponed to June 6, 2023, by Balogun.

Source