Ogun rival cult killings: Akuko Berger denies involvement, says: ‘I witnessed just one’

A suspected cultist, Gafar Sotoye, popularly known as Akuko Berger, belonging to Neo Black Movement a.k.a  Aye Confraternity, who had been on the wanted list of Ogun State Police Command for alleged involvement in killings of rival cult members, has admitted being a witness to one of such, but denied carrying out the act directly. He said that his only weapon was axe which he used to pursue rivals and scare people.

Akuko Berger was arrested recently by the operatives of the Anti-Cultism Squad.  Four other suspected cultists also arrested in Ijoko-Ota were Olamilekan Oyedele a.k.a Upper, Olamide Balogun, a.k.a Reuben, AbdulGaniyu Azeez a.k.a. Micheal and Adeola Adeyinka a.k.a Oriade.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that a fresh rivalry clash started between Aye and Eiye cult groups in the state in January this year, leading to killing and counter killing by each of them to avenge the deaths of their members.

The clashes reportedly continued until the last one when an Eiye member, identified as Seun, was not only killed and beheaded, but had his decapitated head hung on a flyover for all to see.

The anti-cultism squad which had been investigating started trailing the culprits until four of them were apprehended.

Before the arrest, Nigerian Tribune gathered that the police had been looking for Akuko Berger as a result of intelligence gathered on his alleged involvement in over 20 cases of killings.

A credible police source said that few years ago, there was a day the police learnt of Akuko Berger’s presence at Ago Ika and they went there to arrest him. On noticing the police presence, Akuko Berger was said to have mobilised his boys who started shooting in broad daylight, hitting two policemen. Also, a primary school pupil was hit by stray bullet and narrowly escaped being killed. The policemen were also rushed to the hospital, but one of them had permanent scar from the gunshot, as his mouth became twisted.

The suspect, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, delved into his background and spoke on his foray into cultism: “I’m from Ago Ika in Abeokuta. I’m 31 years old. I’m a plank seller and married. I am a cultist. I belong to Aye Confraternity. I’m popularly known as Akuko Berger. I was formerly staying at Ojodu-Berger area. I was a street boy working as a motor boy.”

How I became a cult member

“I joined cult in 2019. I was at a naming ceremony at Ago Ika and was drunk with skushie. The person who took me to the party had told me that I would go with him to a place after leaving the party. We moved from there to a bushy area after Lafenwa railroad. We were asked to lie face down.

“Those who wanted to initiate us formed a circle round us and placed axe on the head of each of us. We were beaten with sticks. We were given alcohol to drink, and our fingers were cut with blade, from where our blood was drawn and we were told to lick it. We were told we had become members.

“After the initiation, I started attending meeting meeting every Sunday inside the bush at Sabo Railway area. We used to be about 50. We used to discuss about reprisal attacks on whoever offended any of us. We usually pursued such offenders with axes.”

Wanted by the police

“I had been on the wanted list of the police because of the killing of a rival cult member. It happened in 2021.

“We were at a party at Randa. One guy whose name I didn’t know had a faceoff with the chairman of a meeting I was part of. He was the one who shot the guy who died. Spacco was the name of the chairman. It was in 2021.

“During the naming ceremony of my child on July 2,  2022, at Ago Ika, police came and bust the event. Everyone went in different directions. I went to Ojodu-Berger, Lagos on July 3. I later learnt that a guy was arrested and my name was mentioned. I know that the police had been looking for me since then.”

How I was arrested

“I was sleeping when police came to arrest me on Monday, September 9. I have never killed anyone. The only thing was that I was there the day Spacco killed an Eiye cultist. And they carried out reprisal attack the same day by killing an Aye member, Azeez.”

When asked of the benefits he had derived from being a cultist, the suspect said: “I never had rest of mind. I was always running from one place to another, with the belief that rivals were after me. Nerojin had two guns while Spacco had one. Axe was my only weapon. I used it to fight,” he said.

Another arrested suspect, who claimed to be an aluminum engineer, Oyedele, aged 32, also spoke on how he became a cultist: “I joined in 2017. I was introduced to it by one Sodeeq who was like a neighbourhood brother. Before the day of initiation, he used to relate well with me.

“On that day, he asked where I was and I told him I was in the shop. He said I should come and meet him in Ikorodu.  When I got there, he asked whether I had some money with me and I said yes. I gave him N5,000. He put me in a house and locked me in a shop since I got there in the morning. He bought drink and biscuit for me.

“At night, he came back and started beating me. He gave me bitter kola and told me to eat it. After I did, he told me that that I had become a member of Aye Confraternity.

“I used to hold meetings with them. Later, my father got to know when Sodeeq was killed by rivals from Eiye Confraternity. I became so afraid. My father pleaded with me to leave Abeokuta and took me to Lagos. He warned me to desist from cult membership. My father got to know because when Sodeeq was killed, I posted his photo and mourned him.

“Since then, I stayed in Lagos, working. Recently, Adisa, the Number One in Aye Confraternity, called me while I was in the shop that I should go with him to a party that night. When I got home, I deceived my wife that I was going to church vigil.

“We were at the party till dawn, and on our way back home, we got down from a bike at Ijoko. Adisa recognised a boy whom I later knew as Basket and started pursuing him. I followed him. The reason was that Adisa was Number One and couldn’t ever be cautioned.

“Before I got to the spot where Adisa pursued the boy to, I met him and he told me ‘he don go, he don go’ meaning he had killed him. He shot him with a gun. I went to take an okada and went back to Lagos.

“I later learnt that members of Eiye Confraternity found out that Adisa was the one who killed Basket, so they also targeted and killed him, and collected the gun he used to kill their member.

“Later, in our group, it was said that we should avenge Adisa’s death. We were told to gather in a place. When I got there, there were many people who came from different places. I only knew few of them — Reuben, Oriade. They called for movement by all of us. I saw Seun among us who was also later killed and his head hung on the bridge in Ijoko by Reuben.

“Reuben later told me that the fight had been settled between the two cult groups. The following morning, he asked where I was, saying that we should meet in Ota. I went there and we went to Ijoko. We  came down at Ijoko market and saw people with machetes, knives and other weapons. I called Reuben’s attention to them and ran away.

“I ran into a house and was apprehended by Eiye cultists and others.”

On why cultists engaged in reprisal attacks and killing of youths, Olamilekan expressed regret that it was a shameful, unreasonable act. He said: “I will never engage in cultism again. My initiation was as a result of conviction by one of them. I have never benefitted anything from it. I’m always afraid of being killed when other members were being killed.”

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