The Ogun State Command has disclosed it has arrested over 500 members of various cult groups between 2019 and 2020.

The Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun who disclosed this to journalists in Abeokuta, the State capital attributed cultism as the cause of kidnapping, armed robbery, murder and other violent crimes in the State.

Ajogun spoke at the national launch of the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), held at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta.

He said the police arrested no fewer than 432 cultists in the various locations in the State in 2019 while over 100 have been arrested in 2020.

The Police boss lamented that the #ENDSARS protest has led to rising incidents of cultism and other criminal activities in the State, but assured that the Command is on top of the situation.

The Chairman of the Occasion and the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Agriculture, FUNAAB, Prof. Kolawole Salako who lamented the high rate of cultism in the society, stated that the younger ones must be guided against manipulation of their minds in order to stem the tide of cultism. 

In his remarks, Ogun state Governor Dapo Abiodun noted that all hands must be on deck to nip in the bud the menace of cultism in the State.

Abiodun who was represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Sola Subair stressed the need for advocacy against cultism in schools.

Correspondent  John Felix reports that the event also witnessed the inauguration of CDS group for some selected National Youth Service Corps members for the campaign.