Residents of Ijesaland may soon heave a sigh of relief from ritual killings and crime as the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, has disclosed that 500 cultists within his domain have indicate interest to renounce their membership and surrender their arms to the Osun State Police Command.
The first class monarch said, already over 200 cultists in Ijesaland had renounced cultism and submitted assorted arms to the police as a result of his determination to end crimes and ritual killings in his domain and the state at large.
Oba Aromolaran disclosed this recently when the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, paid him a courtesy visit in his palace in Ilesa.
The traditional ruler advised the police to upgrade their intelligence gathering network in order to carry out their operations more efficiently.
He informed the police commissioner of his intervention in curbing cultism in Ijesaland, saying that peace and security would reign in the area with the cultists’ action.
Oba Aromolaran said he was always ready to partner with the police to bring about peace in his domain.
Speaking, the police commissioner said the command would have mutual relationship with the people of the state, respect their human rights and dignity in the discharge of its duty to protect their lives and property.
Kokumo, who called for support of the residents to curb crimes, especially, ritual killing, robbery and cultism, reiterated his commitment to improving on the security template he inherited from his predecessor.
The state commissioner of police disclosed that efforts were in top gear to formalise the existing community policing structure in the state by making traditional ruler and divisional police officer in each division to co- chair the proposed special constabulary forum in the state.
Speaking on the spate of ritual killing in the state, kokumo stressed that the Command would embark on sensitisation campaign against the erroneous belief that spirit of victim’s would fetch money for the perpetrators.
