Lagos task force nabs Awawa cult kingpin, 2 others

Operatives of the Lagos State Task Force, Environment and Special Offences Unit, yesterday, arrested the notorious Awawa Boys cult leader, identified as Tobi Akinbayo, 28, alias, Scorpion, and two other suspected members, at Aluminium Village, Dopemu, Agege area of the state. Chairman of the Task Force, Superintendent Olayinka Egbeyemi, while parading the three suspects, confirmed that the nefarious activities of the dreaded group had posed serious challenge to his agency and other state security services. He stated further that reported cases of rape, armed robbery and killing of innocent citizens by the cultists had become worrisome to security agencies in the state. According to Egbeyemi, the agency received lots of petitions about the activities of the Awawa Boys and, based on the petitions, directed the surveillance unit of the agency to closely monitor their activities in different parts of the state, which later paid off with the arrest of the suspects in Agege.

 end of Awawa Boys? From left—Tobi Akinbayo, alias Scorpion; Ibrahim Olaniran and Muyideen Olayinka and their packects of Indian hemp, at the Lagos State Task Force Headquarters, Alausa, Lagos. He admitted that the group had been terrorising the area, saying that other gang leaders, who were at large include One Paul, alias Bouncing, leader of ‘Nokia Group’ and Habeeb, alias Oluwa, of ‘Shita Boys’ who have killed, raped and robbed innocent citizens of their valuables in the area. Egbeyemi said wraps of Indian hemp, also known as cannabis, were recovered from the suspects during the operation, adding “all those arrested will be charged to court as soon as possible.” Confessions During interrogation, Akinbayo, a.k.a.Scorpion, who lives at 10, Salako Street, Alluminium Village, Dopemu, confessed that he and his boys raped, burgled and killed innocent citizens who confronted them during any of their operations around Dopemu area. Tobi confessed: “We sell Indian hemp to commercial bus drivers and area boys around Dopemu and its environs.” According to him, the group during one of its operations raped one Miss Rufia Ogunbowale, daughter of one Mrs. Taiwo Iyabo, who lives at 26, Bello Street, Dopemu, Agege on May 5, at about 12 noon. Akinbayo, a native of Kuta-Ilegbo Town, Abeokuta, Ogun State, disclosed that Awawa Boys is an umbrella name and that they only have branches at different parts of the state and that he is the leader that controls Dopemu and its environs. ‘He gagged, then raped me’ Meanwhile, a 12-year-old Rufia said Akinbayo jumped the fence to enter their room on that fateful day, when her mother had gone to the market. He gagged her with the scarf on her head before raping her. She said her mother, who could not do anything for fear of being attacked, quickly took her to Abeokuta, where she was treated and she had since been living in Abeokuta at her late father’s house. She said: “Akinbayo threatened to kill my mother if I dare report them to any security agencies.” Her 46-year-old mother said: “They raped my daughter. But as they threatened to kill me and other children if I report to the police, I took her to her late father’s house at Abeokuta for treatment and she has been staying there since.”