Police in Lagos has arrested a 22-year-old Maliki Bello believed to be the “supreme leader” of Berry Boys secret cult and 11 others in an ongoing crackdown on a cult said to be recruiting members on Facebook.

Bello has been on police wanted list for violent crimes and gang clashes, and operating in Itire, said Lagos police spokesperson DSP Bala Elkana.

He is a native of Lalopun, Kwara state but resides in Lagos. He confessed to be responsible for “series of violent attacks, murders and armed robberies incidents recorded in Idiaraba, Lawanson, Dosunmu, Ashimowo Bakare, Omo-Bola Mushin and Itire,” the police said.

He told detectives he was initiated into the cult at age 12 when he was in JSS1. He later rose to the cult’s number-one position, mostly addressed as “supreme leader”.

The gang has an official Facebook page (Bbl Baloteli) with 1,928 friends, according to the police, alongside other social media accounts used to recruit members, plan attacks and update members.

A search for the Facebook page turned up nothing