Ten members of a cult, Awawa Boys, are now working with Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Task Force), Chairman Olayinka Egbeyemi said on Tuesday.
Egbeyemi, a Chief Superindendent of Police (CSP), told the visiting Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu that he had reduced the gang’s activities in Agege, where it is based.
He added: “After raids and the arrest of members, they invited me, seeking amnesty.”
Egbeyemi said he met with the boys in mufti, and they told him that joblessness pushed them into crimes. They said that if the government gave them jobs, they would shun crimes, he added.
Egbeyemi went on: “The Awawa boys are willing to work, what they need is employment. Once this is done, their criminal activities will end.”
He, however, said the boys were still all over the state perpetrating crimes.
Egbeyemi urged the government to create a reformatory home to engage them, as they are willing to work.
If the boys are employed, they will shun crimes, he said, stressing: “They need to be rehabilitated.”
Egbeyemi said the task force tackled cultists, kidnappers, miscreants, hoodlums and even robbers.
He said the agency had crushed 7,000 motorcycles so far, adding that about 4,200 others were in its store.
Egbeyemi said the agency needed more operational vehicles, including Black Maria, to tackle insecurity in Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi.
