Police detectives have now embarked on hot chase after deadly street gangs across the country, as homicide crimes soar in big cities. The Point learnt that between November 2015 and January 3, over 200 murder cases have been reported to the police in cities like Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Abuja and Kaduna.
Information gathered from a police source at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Louis Edet House, Abuja, revealed that the figure “does not take care of such cases as Boko Haram or the herdsmen, who kill people en mass.”
Investigations revealed that in some of the aforementioned cities, detectives have lately discovered that such unwarranted killings were cult-related and have fashioned out a way of reducing the menace once and for all.
According to the source, “Police analysis of most of the cases have pointed to the fact that gang related killings in the form of revenge attacks were responsible. The first clue was the recent capture of some outlaws by the police, who finally put them through the wringer after the initial investigation.
Information obtained from some of the suspects indicated that, ”cultism that has gained ground in some tertiary institutions in the country has now spread into the streets, where society dregs form themselves into deadly gangs.”
The Point was told that “the street gang cults appear to be more deadly than those they claim to have emerged from as they kill with reckless abandon at the slightest provocation.
they have a distinctive way of identifying themselves whenever they run into the hands of the law enforcement officers, especially the police or rival gangs
Some go about with loaded guns in their pockets and usually use motorcycles as getaways.” Unlike in the higher institutions, where cult groups such as the Eiye Confraternity, the Axe, Aiye and others hold sway, “the street gangs attempt to play a copy-cat role by borrowing their traditional names and even have added to it such names as Awawa, Million Dollar Boys, Badoo, Skushes, OBB e.t.c.
Their mode of operation differ and they have a distinctive way of identifying themselves whenever they run into the hands of the law enforcement officers, especially the police or rival gangs.” Checks revealed that police detectives have continually made use of the type of tattoo found on a suspect to identify the cult gang group he belongs to.
A source further disclosed that, “some of them have been found to have made use of bloody hand signs, while the tattoo image on their body could either be spider, hare, crip, Zion or Nazi symbol, stars, butterfly or snake.
Some simply make seven incisions by their ear and they have an abiding affinity and loyalty to their rank and file. Now, we have equally identified ‘hot wheels gang,’ which we are still analysing.
A good number of the arrested gang members are known to have used ‘mouth pouting’ or hands signs as a means of communication when in our custody.”
