Nighteen students of All Souls’ Anglican Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti have been arrested for their alleged involvement in cult activities.
A breakdown shows that six out of the students aged 14 to 16 years were females while the remaining 13 were males. Some of the suspected teenage cult members confessed to being members of Eiye Confraternity and various other nefarious cult groups already popular in teitary institutions.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor Babayemi, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said the pupils were arrested following complaints from some parents in the school.
Babayemi said the suspected cult members had since been released to their parents, saying they were quizzed to extract useful information from them.
He however said no weapon was found on them.
The school’s principal, Mrs. Grace Ibikunle, told journalists on Monday that the secret was blown open last week when a male pupil beat up a female pupil for refusing to be his lover.
She said the situation became chaotic when some female pupils interrogated opened up and mentioned names of pupils who were cult members.
She said investigation showed that some of the accused pupils had insignia such as tattoos with inscriptions such ‘Lady G,’ ‘Lady Elizabeth,’ ‘Lady D’ among other signs.
She said, “When we were still busy investigating the matter in the school to ascertain the involvement of the pupils accused to be members of the secret cult, some parents went to report the case at the police station, so that the case will not be covered up.
“The pupils were later arrested and detained but I learnt that they have been released. They did it for the future of their children and it was a way of deterring other pupils from involving themselves in acts that can ruin their future.”