Nigerian mafia, 16 precautionary measures, issued by the court of Turin and carried out by the police against a group of citizens suspected of belonging to the ‘Eiye’ mafia-type criminal association who are accused, as well as of criminal association mafia-type, of robbery, extortion, injury and drug crimes.
The maxi-operation by the Turin police against the Nigerian mafia and in particular against the Eiye clan saw a man from Rosignano among those arrested.
Eleven of the people arrested during theoperation ‘Birdman’, have been traced to Italy
For the realization of the executive phase, a total of over 100 men of the State police were employed and, in addition to the Turin Flying Squad, the activity also involved the police headquarters of Cuneo, Varese, Bergamo e Leghorn..
The investigative activities, launched in March 2019, developed through technical interception activities, as well as articulated observation and shadowing services on the territory, and made it possible to identify those who, according to the indictment, would represent the national leaders of the cult, in constant and direct contact with the leaders operating in Nigeria.
The investigations also made it possible to reconstruct in detail the structure of the criminal association which, according to the elements collected, appears to be characterized by apyramidal hierarchical organization, which would qualify for the presence of a body operating at a national level and of numerous local branches, active in individual Italian cities. The national structure would be endowed with a top-down organization which sees at its apex a “World Ibaka”, holder of executive power, who would enjoy international prestige and is in contact with the parent body in Nigeria. It would be divided into provincial or local sections called “Zones”, but in turn headed by a “Zona Head”.
The technical activity has documented the existence of an organizational structure, characterized by a set of rules of conduct, violent rites of affiliation, L’use of an exclusive language among members (aimed at making the content of the dialogues less permeable and at reinforcing the sense of belonging among the associates), the division into roles and positions corresponding to precise functionsintimidation and the use of physical violence in case of violation of the behavioral rules of the organization.
The solidity of the structure was clearly a distinctive element of the criminal consortium under investigation, which would have planted solid roots in many regions of Italy.
Like all Nigerian fraternities, there are elements to believe that the Eiye have their own distinctive signs: as a symbol a bird, sometimes depicted clutching a human skull in its claws, while the color usually worn is blue.
