In Lagos 65-yr-old man arrested for selling guns to armed robbers, cultists

Police have arrested a 65-year-old blacksmith who sells guns to armed robbery gang and cultists.

The man identified as Najim Bakare said he started selling guns to make ends meet. He was in Lagos alongside three others involved in cult activities.

The co-suspects, Adewale Odusote, TairuTairu Idris andDare Ayetoba, were arrested for allegedly causing trouble in the Mobil Road area of Ajah, Lagos.

It was gathered that Odusote, 22, a native of Epe, Lagos, was apprehended by the police attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) after a  tip-off on a robbery incident.  He was reportedly heading to deliver a gun to a robbery gang in a hideout.

Police recovered double-barrelled short guns sold to the gang by Bakare, as well as one live cartridge and one jack knife.

In his confession,  Bakare said, “I sold the gun to the gang for N30,000 and used the money to meet some domestic needs.”

“I am a blacksmith. I make hoes, cutlasses and other metal appliances. I also make guns. It is true that I sold the gun to the gang. I sell guns because I need to meet domestic needs. I sold it to the boys for N30,000. They did not tell me they were cultists."

In his confession, Odusote said he belongs to Aye cult,  stating more than 50 persons  were initiated in March 2012 when he joined.

“I dropped out of secondary school in 2012, and became an apprentice barber. It was a friend, Lukman, who introduced me to the cult. We were initiated in a bush around Epe. It was at about 9.30pm.They were beating us inside the bush. There were seven masters  who flogged us with Koboko. We also drank some hard drink. That  is all,” he said.

The third suspect, Idris, who hails from Ajegunle, said the he joined the cult for protection adding that his wife is aware he is a cultist.

The 25-year-old father of two said they do not see anything wrong in joining cult groups; “we joined to protect our area and ourselves because hoodlums were always invading the Alaguntan area where I stayed.”