A 44-year-old native doctor, Qudus Shodimu, has admitted making bullet proof charms for cultists.
Shodimu made the confession after being arrested by the police in Ogun State.
He, however, regretted that the cultist killed by rivals close to his residence brought some herbs and concoctions which he mixed with his.
The native doctor said the mixture probably caused the failure of the bulletproof charm he made for the deceased.
The Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Yomi Oladimeji, said the arrest of the native doctor along with suspected cultists followed the information received by the anti-cultism section on April 30 that members of the dreaded Aiye Confraternity had assembled at Elega area in Abeokuta in preparation for a battle with their rival cult group.
The police commissioner said that acting on the report, the anti-cultist team in collaboration with personnel of the So-Safe Corps, moved to the scene of the incident. The cultists, however, reportedly opened fire when they saw the police operatives but were overpowered.
According to CP Oladimeji, two of the cultists, later identified as Noah Ayobami aka Anobi 7 and Azeez Ololade aka Bouncing, died during the encounter.
The raid also led to the arrest of the native doctor, Shodimu, and Oluwaseun Adebowale aka Eko.
Recovered from them, according to CP Oladimeji, were a locally-made double-barrel gun, five local knives, a battle axe, five expended cartridges and some charms.
A policeman and two vigilantes also sustained minor injuries during the operation.
Before the police encounter with the Aye cultists, they had killed an Eye cult member moments after he left Shodimu’s place.
Shodimu said he was arrested because he is one who prepares bullet proof and protection charms for the cultists.
“Before I started practising traditional medicine and divination, I was a timber lorry driver. However, I had an accident, which fractured my two legs. I started using my master’s hut in the village to attend to clients who were coming for consultation and fortification. I was feeding on the little I could get from it.”
“It was Adebowale who brought two people to me. As a motor boy, he told me that the two men were cultists and needed protection and bulletproof charm. I started the work of a native doctor two years ago.
“The deceased lived in the same community with other cultists. They were all friends. On the fateful day, he came to my place. He and others used to come to play. After he left, other cultists also followed. The next thing I heard was the sound of a gunshot. I asked some children to go and check what was happening. They came back to tell me that the man that just left me had been killed and his body was lying by the roadside.
“I asked to know those who carried out the killing but they said they didn’t know. By then, Adebowale aka Eko and other cultists had fled. It was one of the residents who specifically told me that Adebowale was seen among the killers.”
Asked why one of his clients was killed despite the bullet-proof charms he prepared for him, Shodimu claimed that the client brought some concoctions himself and just asked him to add it to make traditional bulletproof charm for him. He said he collected N10,000 from Adebowale for the charms he prepared for him, but didn’t charge the deceased prior to his murder, as he just came to play with friends.
Native doctor profession
“I didn’t inherit the work from anyone. It was what our masters taught us in the forest in the course of driving log trucks that I put to use after I had an accident.”
The second suspect, Adebowale, 28, said he became a motor boy after his primary school education.
“I have no mother again but my father is still alive. I was arrested for engaging in cult activities. I joined Neo Black Movement of Africa, popularly known as Aye Confraternity or Black Axe, in 2020. The initiation took place at Ikija in Abeokuta. I was introduced to the cult group by one area brother called Azeez aka Bouncing.”
Initiation into cult group
“Bouncing told me to follow him to a party at Ago Ika area of Abeokuta. We started late in the evening and were there till after midnight. I was told that it was time to return home and asked to hop on a motorbike. On the way, I noticed that we were going very far and out of the way and I called Bouncing’s attention to it. I asked him where we were going, but he told me to be calm, saying that he didn’t have the intention of abducting me, as we were together. It was at about 2am.
“I was taken into the bush where we met a lot of people. The cult members descended on me, beating me till dawn. Then they poured some wine in a calabash and asked me to drink, after which I was told that I had become one of their members. I reminded Bouncing of the brother I was living with who belongs to Eiye cult group. The man was also feeding me, though we have no blood relationship. He was selling marijuana. Bouncing replied that it was because of my benefactor that I was initiated into Aye cult so that he would not make me an Eye cult member. They said I needed not to live with him again, but I replied that I had nowhere else to stay. They assured me that they would allow me to live with them.
“I had not been following the cult members or attending meetings because as a motor boy, I was always on the road.
“I was arrested after Bouncing mentioned my name. We also named others belonging to the cult group and we took the police to the native doctor that fortified us traditionally.
“I have never killed anyone whether due to rivalry or otherwise. I used to hear of killings but it is not everyone of us that did that.
“The killing that led to our arrest was the one that happened recently, where the murdered victim was killed in the neighbourhood we were staying at Ikija.
“The person belonged to Eiye Confraternity. He came to our native doctor for charms and notification but he was cornered there.”
- Media Report