•How we joined cult group, assumed positions of authority — Suspected members of Aye Confraternity
On Thursday, February 12, 2026, a 19-year-old first year Computer Science student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Olamide (surname withheld), just finished a class test. It was his first semester in the institution. As he and two female students were walking within the school premises, some senior students, including one HND student identified as Promise, allegedly called him, asking for his power bank. Olamide stopped immediately and approached the senior students while the female students moved on, believing that he would proceed to where he was residing after the interaction with the senior students. It was about 2:30p.m.
However, unknown to the girls, one of the senior students, Promise, an HND 2 student alleged of belonging to Neo Black Movement a.k.a. Aye Confraternity, with others, reportedly seized Olamide ‘s iPhone XR and put him in solitary confinement in a school hall room. But the teenager had a small mobile phone with him, which he used to call one of the girls he was walking with before his “arrest”, who was his close friend, informing her of his experience. Believing that he would escape from the confinement later, Olamide told his female friend he would gist her later. Saturday Tribune learnt that immediately the senior students who held him hostage saw the small phone, they snatched it from him and switched it off. And that night, Olamide, an only child of his parents, was murdered by the suspected cultists. Till today, his remains have yet to be recovered.
Findings by Saturday Tribune revealed that when Olamide could no longer be reached, his female friend reached out to the authorities of the institution who, in turn, reported the case of the missing student at Sango Police Station and took Promise there for questioning. From there, the case was transferred to the Anti-Cultism Unit on February 20, where an investigation began.
Initially, Promise reportedly denied being a cultist and said that he knew nothing about the teenager’s disappearance. However, during a search conducted in his residence by the anti-cultism operatives, an Award of Excellence indicating Promise as the Chief Butcher of Aye Confraternity was recovered in one of his files. That was when he allegedly confessed to his membership of the cult group and knowledge about the disappearance of the missing student.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, in a statement, had said that following intelligence-led information secured by the Anti-Cultism Unit operatives, and a directive from Commissioner of Police Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, the suspects were arrested in a coordinated operation within the premises of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, on April 29 as they were allegedly planning a cult meeting at a designated temple called Four Pillars.
Recovered from the suspects were two locally-made cut-to-size guns, two English pistols, 16 live cartridges, four axes and assorted charms. The PPRO stated further that preliminary investigation showed that some of those arrested were already on the Command’s watchlist over alleged involvement in murder and cult-related activities in the state.
The suspects suspects arrested include Pelumi a.k.a Lumi, Sunday (a.k.a Wise), Gbenga, Olamilekan, Israel, Azeez who is immediate past Number 1, and Abiola. Allegedly recovered from them were two locally-made cut-to-size guns, two English pistols, 16 live cartridges, four axes and assorted charms.
Investigation revealed that Promise alleged Olamide of being a member of the Eiye cult group, but reports had it that Promise allegedly held a grouse against Olamide whom he believed was befriending the girl who refused his own advances. The girl, also aged 19, was said to have seen Promise as a big brother and used to call him “Uncle Promise.” Saturday Tribune further learnt that on the day the victim was killed, Promise sent two emojis – one depicting anger and the other a crying one – to the girl. Scared by what she saw, the girl reportedly asked Promise about the meaning of the emojis, to which he allegedly replied that she should not worry, adding that he would see her in the school the following day.
One of the suspects, Israel, reportedly confessed to the police that he and four other members of the cult group were directed to take Olamide out of the school premises. One of the suspects, Gbenga, who is Number Two in position, was said to have lent his Lexus SUV to the group, which was used to convey Olamide to a destination where he was killed, with the hatchet men shouting: “Aye Axe Men!” repeatedly as they were cutting him.
It would be recalled that Tribuneonline posted a story written by this writer on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, about a 27-year-old man, identified as Ukpene Michael, who was shot to death by three suspected cult members belonging to Black Axe Confraternity, also known as Black Axe, in the full glare of passersby and commercial motorcyclists picking passengers by the roadside at Awotan Community along Apete-Akufo Road in Ibadan. With a Lexus SUV used as the operational vehicle, one of the cultists also pulled out an axe, cut off Michael’s right hand at the wrist and went away with it, as they drove off at great speed. The murder was alleged to be in retaliation for an Aye cult member murdered by rival cult group, the Eiye Confraternity, at Monatan area. Michael was alleged to be an Eiye cult member.
Six months later, the Tribuneonline also reported the murder of a 35-year-old man, Idris (surname withheld a.k.a. Satio, after he was attacked at about 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, at the Morubo area on his way from a friend’s baby naming ceremony by cultists suspected to belong to Eiye Confraternity on Thursday. His body was found the following day dumped in the middle of a road along a bush path that leads to Ologuneru Community, Railway area, Apete-Akufo Road, with deep cuts on his head. Saturday Tribune gathered that Idris was a Mechanical Engineering graduate from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, and alleged to be a former member of Aye Confraternity while in school.
In an interview with Saturday Tribune, one of the suspects, Olamilekan, aged 27, who occupied the cult group’s Number One position, confirmed being an Aye cult member. The HND2 student said he was initiated into the cult group by one Nurudeen whom he initially did not know was a cultist. He said that after returning to Ibadan, he initially held no position in the group. He said that he later rose to the leadership position and became Number One in 2024.
He said his rise was largely connected to his financial contributions to the group, explaining that he regularly bought drinks and other items for members and provided financial support. Olamilekan admitted that he knew members of the group were involved in killings, although he claimed he deliberately kept away from such activities. He said the members knew he opposed violent activities and therefore did not normally involve him in killings. When asked why he remained in the group despite knowing about killings, Olamilekan claimed the members did not want him to leave because of the financial support he provided.
On the killing of Olamide, Olamilekan maintained that he was not involved. “I heard from Friday (Fred) that our members saw a guy who was an Eiye cult member. He asked me if the boy should be executed and I opposed that, saying it would boomerang. I went home, and at about 8p.m. that day, I got a notification on my WhatsApp where ‘bluetooth disconnected’ was posted. This meant that an Eiye cult member had been killed. I called Fred, expressing hope that it was not the boy he told me about. He confirmed it was the boy and I fought with him that day, but there was nothing I could do again. I am Number One in the group and I could just give advice, but Fred as Number Three is very powerful and could ignore my advice.”
The suspect in Number Two position, Gbenga, aged 30, also confessed to being an Aye cult member, saying he joined the organisation in 2025 after being introduced by a “street brother.” He told Saturday Tribune: “I’m an HND1 Public Administration student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan. My initiation into the cult group took place in a bush where I was beaten alongside two other guys.”
According to him, “There was one guy who embarrassed me and slapped me. Then I told that brother that someone slapped me. So that was when that brother said, ‘Don’t worry,’ that we should go to a night party.”
He said the supposed party eventually led to his initiation, adding: “I was taken inside the bush with two others.” He further admitted that his thumb was cut during the initiation and he was made to lick his blood. Gbenga added that he was subsequently given the name “Nelson Mandela,” as a freedom fighter, which he described as a “strong name.”
The suspect also revealed that he formerly served as an “Ihaza” in the cult group, a position he said involved collecting money from members under the guise of “school fees,” adding that each member contributed N5,000 annually. He disclosed that he later rose to the number-two position in the group, which he described as that of a “peacemaker.”
On the circumstances surrounding the killing of deceased Olamide, the suspect admitted that he was with some members of the group earlier that day at a location within the school premises known as “Four-Pillar.” He said: “That day in school, I was sitting far away from Four-Pillar.” They saw one boy and asked him to sit in a hall. Later in the evening, that day we held a meeting, and after the meeting, I wanted to be going home when Fred told me there was a party they were going to. So I said, ‘It’s fine.’”
The suspect said he subsequently went with another member, identified as Scott, to play Snooker, but Fred had earlier collected his car key. Asked why Fred collected the key, the suspect said it was to convey people from the school to play Snooker. The suspect said that he later received the key back from Fred and went home. It was at home, he said, that he saw a message on the cult group platform indicating that “a shirt has been delivered.” Explaining the coded expression, he said: “That means an Eiye guy has been delivered.” Asked what “delivered” meant in the context, he replied: “That means he has been killed.” He said he saw the message around 8:30 p.m., adding that he immediately understood what it meant.
Despite admitting that he knew the coded message meant someone had been killed, the suspect denied knowing beforehand that the ND1 student would be the victim. “After I saw them at Four-Pillar, they said, ‘Ah, this guy is an Eiye boy,’ and I left.,” Gbenga said. He further denied that his vehicle had previously been used to transport victims for cult-related killings, maintaining that he was not present when the victim was killed and had never personally participated in a killing. Gbenga said he only discovered the identity of the victim about two weeks later after seeing a report on TikTok that the student had gone missing from the campus. He also claimed that he was forced into cultism, despite acknowledging his membership of the Aye Fraternity. “I was forced to join. It was not my intention. I didn’t join it intentionally,” he said.
Another suspect, Israel, a 26-year-old HND1 student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department admitted to being a member of the Aye Confraternity. He also said he was with members of the group and Olamide in Gbenga’s vehicle on the day the boy was killed, adding that he saw Fred with an axe and subsequently heard Fred describe the killing in coded language. He, however, maintained that he did not personally participate in the killing.
The suspect said he joined the Aye Confraternity in 2024, towards the end of his ND2, and was introduced to the group by one late Bobby, claiming that he was forced into the cult group. He further disclosed that the initiation took place at Alaro area, along Sango-Eleyele Road, after he and two others were taken there from school.
ALSO READ: 2027: Join APC or quit rainbow coalition, Gov Lawal tells Wike
“We were about three that very day. It was on a Friday. We were three and coming from a class at about 4:30p.m.– I, Joseph, and Sultan,” he said. Describing the circumstances surrounding his initiation, the suspect said the group members were armed with guns at the time.
“We didn’t have a choice because they were holding a gun that very day, too,” he said.
He confirmed that he underwent the cult initiation process, including the cutting of his finger. The suspect admitted that he remained a member of the confraternity after the initiation and identified himself as a “member of council.”
On the circumstances leading to Olamide’s death, Israel said that members of the group had gathered inside the school for a meeting when they allegedly discovered that the victim was linked to a rival cult group.
According to him, “we were inside the school, trying to hold a meeting that very day when Promise and another member, RSK (Rasaki), told the others that Olamide’s phone had been searched and that he was suspected of belonging to the Eiye Confraternity, and that he was sending some pictures of Aye members to his people on his phone.”
Israel said that the matter was subsequently communicated to senior members of the group, but he claimed that the initial instruction was to release the victim. However, despite the alleged instruction to release Olamide, the suspect said he later found himself in a vehicle with the victim and other members of the group.
He acknowledged that Olamide was inside the vehicle as they left the school at almost 7p.m., saying that the group claimed they were taking Olamide to his area of abode so he could be dropped off. He admitted that the vehicle eventually stopped at an undisclosed location after travelling from the school, while Fred ordered Olamide out of the vehicle. “We were six in the vehicle – Dre (Dare), Friday (Fred), Mourinho, Abass a.k.a Order and I, with Olamide. Fred came down and told Olamide: ‘Oya, bọ́lẹ̀, bọ́lẹ̀, bọ́lẹ̀’ (come down, come down, come down).”
Israel also admitted that Mourinho and Order came down from the vehicle, joined Fred and moved away with Olamide, while he also briefly came down because he was curious about what was happening.
He said the men soon returned to the vehicle and urged everyone to leave, disclosing that Fred made a statement inside the vehicle which, according to him, was a coded reference to killing the victim.
“Fred was explaining that ‘mo rí penalty, mo dẹ̀ gba’ (I saw penalty and took it), which was a reference to killing an Eiye cult member. He said he saw an Eiye cult member and he killed it in truth,” the suspect said. He also confirmed that Fred was carrying an axe when he returned to the vehicle. He admitted that he saw Fred and Mourinho holding an axe each, but he couldn’t query them as an ordinary member. He revealed the hierarchy within the cult group, stating that Fred, who held the Number Three position and was the Chairman, wielded significant authority over other members.
“He’s the Chairman of the group, and Number Three is stronger than even the Number One.I didn’t have the right to question him,” Israel said.
Abiola, a 24-year-old HND II student and another suspect, confessed that he joined the Aye Confraternity in 2025, saying he was initially drawn into the group after seeking assistance over failed courses while ND2 and admission difficulties into HND1. According to him, he was introduced to some members by another person who claimed they could help him resolve his academic problems. He said he did not initially know that the person was a cult member. Abiola explained that he became increasingly involved with the group before eventually being initiated. “Since then, I’ve been like an errand boy to them. Whenever they needed something, they would call me to get it for them,” he said, adding that members later invited him to where he believed was a party.
“I followed them. Later on, I noticed that they wanted to initiate me. I agreed to it because I had no choice. There was nothing I could do at that point,” he stated.
Abiola admitted that he went to see Olamide when he was called by Fred, and members told him the victim was an Eiye Confraternity member and an ND I Computer Science student. On the murder, Abiola repeatedly denied direct involvement, saying that he only later became aware that a student had been killed after seeing reports on social media. He said that though he was present when members were discussing the situation, he did not participate in the killing.
Another suspect, identified as Afeez, also confirmed his alleged membership of the Aiye fraternity. On his alleged involvement in the killing of Olamide, Afeez denied participating, saying: “I was never involved in any killing. I was not there, and I didn’t know anything.”
Asked when he became aware of the alleged killing, he said: “It was when the police officers started asking me questions, that was how I knew.”
Afeez also denied knowledge of any announcement about the incident on the cult group’s platform, saying: “No, I don’t know about that.”
Twenty-four-year-old Sunday, also a suspect denied involvement in the alleged killing of Olamide, but admitted to being a member of the Aye Confraternity.
Sunday said he joined the group in 2025 after being forced into it while completing his National Diploma (ND) programme in Public Administration. He claimed that members lured him to a location within his polytechnic and subsequently took him to their camp.
The suspect, who holds an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), also disclosed that he once served as a “Crier” in the group, a position he said involved posting information about planned parties or gatherings on the group’s platform. He explained that his involvement later ended after his phone developed a fault, leading members to suspend him. “When my phone had an issue, they saw me as not being serious so they suspended me and took the position from me,” he said.
On the alleged murder of Olamide, Sunday repeatedly denied any knowledge or participation, saying he only heard about the incident after arrests began. He said that at the time of the incident, he was focused on completing his school clearance and obtaining his certificate.
Pelumi, popularly known as “Lumi”, also a member of the cult group admitted belonging to the Aye confraternity, while denying direct involvement in Olamide’s killing. Lumi disclosed that he joined the Aye confraternity in 2021 while living at Agbowo area. He, however, denied participating in any killing. When asked about an alleged cult-related killing at Awotan, Apete, in Ibadan, in October 2025, which investigation linked to members of the Aye Confraternity, Lumi admitted that he was in the vehicle with Aye cult members who allegedly went to the scene but insisted that he did not participate in the attack. He said one of their members known as Machiavelli, who was familiar with Apete as a resident, was the one who led members to the place where the victim was killed. He also identified individuals, one of whom he called Akube, and claimed to be the Chairman of Aye Confraternity in the University of Ibadan, and the other one, Afo, alleged of being the Chairman of Aye cult in The Polytechnic Ibadan that year, as among those allegedly involved in the operation. Lumi further alleged that Akube was the person who called the victim out, while Akube and Afo were carrying firearms. Lumi identified Akube and Afo as the persons who shot the victim who was believed by members of the Aye cult group to be affiliated with the Eiye Confraternity, adding that the attack appeared to have been motivated by an earlier dispute.
“It was like revenge concerning one of us, Machiavelli, who escaped death by the whiskers when he was shot by Eiye cultists,” he stated.
Further findings had it that Akube, whose real name is Kehinde (surname withheld), was not a student of the University of Ibadan, but was made the head of the cult group by a past for cultism and murder after a CCTV recording showed how he and others shot a boutique/barbing salon owner to death on August 15, 2024 at a filling station in Alakia area of Ibadan. The victim was alleged of being an Eiye in cult member.
About the killing of Olamide, and whether he played any role in the incident, Lumi denied his involvement, but admitted that he personally checked the deceased’s phone when it was taken from him before he was eventually killed.
He claimed to have seen what he described as “PF Eiye,” which he interpreted as a platform connected with the Eiye confraternity.
He maintained that he was not among the high-ranking members of the group and lacked the authority to challenge decisions taken by its leaders.
“I knew I didn’t have power,” he said.
Since Olamide’s murder, Fred, who is in the Number Three position and alleged to be the butcher, is still at large with other suspects. Promise, who was the first suspect to be arrested, has been charged to court and remanded in the Custodial Centre, it was gathered.
Related arrest of suspected cultists
This year, there have been arrests of suspected cultists. In February, the Anti-Cultism Unit arrested three suspected cult members, identified as Oluwafemi, a member of the Eiye Confraternity, as well as Azeez and Oladimeji, both allegedly linked to the Alora Confraternity, during an operation at The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic. The operation followed intelligence obtained from an earlier suspect, David, a suspected member of Eiye Confraternity, who reportedly conveyed the corpse of another Eiye cult member, Ridwan, to the hospital after he was shot dead on January 7 within the institution premises during a violent clash between the two cult groups. premises arrested in
Saturday Tribune learnt that the operation was conducted with the knowledge and consent of the school authorities after management petitioned the Commissioner of Police over fears of impending cult clashes, retaliation and counter-retaliation on campus.
In the same February, police operatives attached to the Sango Division arrested the two suspects – Opeyemi, 31, also known as “Aiki”, and Olaniyan, 29, alias “Bojan” – at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, following intelligence about suspected cult activities on the campus. During interrogation, the suspects, both residents of Apete area of Ibadan, allegedly confessed to being members of the Eiye Secret Cult Confraternity.
Items recovered from them included one locally-made double-barrel pistol, two live cartridges and a black bag containing charms. Police said preliminary investigation linked the suspects to alleged cult-related clashes within the institution, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend other members of the group.
In June, police operatives of the Command’s Monitoring Unit arrested two suspected cultists – Bukola, 28, and Caleb, 24 – during a stop-and-search operation along the Oyo/Ogbomoso Expressway. The suspects were also said to have been on the police watchlist over alleged cult-related activities in Ogbomoso and its environs. Items recovered from the Lexus ES 350 vehicle in which the suspects were intercepted included three axes, one cutlass, one hammer, an Apple laptop computer, an HP laptop computer, two iPhones, one Samsung mobile phone and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
In July, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) arrested 11 suspected members of the Eiye Confraternity at hideouts around Under-G, Yuako and Adenike areas, following intelligence about plans to launch attacks within the student community. The suspects, all identified as students of LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, were identified as Victor, 24; Rasheed, 22; Isaac, 20; Segundo, 26; Julius, 26; Opeyemi, 24; Abel, 22; Ayodeji, 22; Oladimeji, 32; Moses, 28; and Kalid, 20.
Items recovered from the suspects included four locally-fabricated cut-to-size pistols, 11 live cartridges, one expended cartridge, two cult axes, one cutlass, one dagger knife and a red cult hooded cap.
DSP Ayanlade, who said that the operatives earned commendation from the Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Ayodeji Abimbola, for their professionalism, vigilance, and prompt response in preventing violent attacks within the student community, reiterated the Command’s commitment to ridding the state of cultism and violent crimes. He added that sustained public safety and order would be ensured.
WATCH TOP VIDEOS FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE TV
