The dust from last week’s cult killings in Sagamu has yet to settle, as Ogun State’s two major political parties are presently playing a blame game over the incident.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have continued to blame each other for the deaths of approximately 20 people in Sagamu amid cult confrontations.
Despite the fact that the Commissioner of Police in Ogun, Abiodun Alamutu, emphasized on Sunday that the cultists in Sagamu are neither students nor politicians, political parties have been trading insults, particularly following the detention of Hon. Damilare Bello by the Department of State Services, DSS.
The APC had previously dubbed the PDP as “a nest of cultists,” but the PDP quickly rebranded the APC as “a hub of cultists and criminals.”
Tunde Oladunjoye, APC Publicity Secretary in Ogun, encouraged security services in the state to further probe the PDP in order “to make more arrests and stem the tide of cultism in the state” in a statement.
According to Oladunjoye, “notable members of the state’s ragtag PDP are involved in cultism as high ranking members in their various local government areas.”
He added, “We urge the security agencies to track and monitor the type of meetings the so-called honourable members are holding, hosting and presiding over in their constituencies.”
Oladunjoye accused the PDP of resorting to what he called “high level of absurdity in its vain attempt to distract the Administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun” after losing all its petitions at the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in the State.
Oladunjoye said the PDP rushed to town, “via preemptive paid adverts” to cry wolf over the recent cult clashes in Sagamu “and attempted to mischievously tag the APC”.
The APC spokesman said the PDP “shamelessly tried to link its failure at the polls with the cult clashes”.
“It therefore became ironical when the top brains behind the Sagamu cult clash, after fleeing Sagamu, became the “special guests” of the PDP House of Assembly member, who was using his official quarters to provide cover for the Sagamu escapees.
“In Ogun State, for the cultists and their sponsors, the chicken has come home to roost. The PDP cult masquerades are being unveiled and the security agents should go the full hog,” he said.
In a swift response, the PDP Publicity Secretary in Ogun, Akinloye Bankole said many residents of Ogun State are living with the fear of where the next cult killing may occur.
Bankole recalled the various cult killings in the state in the last four years, saying, “Ogun State, whose development began to attract multiple investors that could make life abundant for its citizens, has gradually become a shadow of itself since the assumption of leadership by the current APC government.”
The PDP spokesman said the APC and its political office holders have been indicted by security agencies of various crimes.
According to him, the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly was arrested and is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly diverting funds meant for the Assembly.
Among others, Bankole recalled the case of Bidemi Rufai, a former appointee of the State Government, who was arrested in the United States for a $350,000 fraud.
“Like a popular saying, birds of a feather flock together, the same is the situation with several of APC, appointees who continue to bring disrepute to a state known for its uprightness,” he said; noting that Abiodun Abudu-Balogun, a former Commissioner for Environment, was asked to resign after a minor accused him of attempted rape and molestation.
“With the above and many others too numerous to mention, do we need a soothsayer to tell us that Governor Abiodun and his party, APC, are the architects and masterminds of the current security situation in Ogun State?
“We therefore, as a party that is committed to the well-being and peaceful coexistence of the good people of Ogun State, pray that the wish of the people come to reality with the victory of the party and our candidate, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu at the tribunal,” he stated.