The Nigerian Police have taken a drastic step to “nip in the bud” the rising crisis between cults in Edo State.
Operatives of the Edo State Police command arrested eight members of secret cult groups in the state on 16 April 2023.
The suspects were arrested in various criminal hideouts in the state.
The seven suspects are Adodo Etiosa, Destiny Ogbeifun, Atohan Osazuwa and Enohiense Nelson, Okechukwu Samuel, Osayande Ogbomwan, and Friday Omoruyi.
The police said a member of the gang, identified as Maxwell, escaped during the raid.
Some of the suspects were arrested around the Upper Mission extension in Benin.
The suspects were arrested on 16 April during a stop and search by the police.
The police stopped a white-coloured Lexus 330 Jeep along Upper mission road and ordered the occupants to exit the vehicle. Upon extensive search, some weapons, including a sabre, were recovered.
The suspects were arrested, and the police said they had made useful statements to help with their investigation.
Meanwhile, around Ukhumwun in the Ugbowo part of Benin City, the police, on a routine patrol, intercepted two men on a motorcycle with a cross bag.
After a thorough search, two locally made pistols and six live cartridges were recovered.
Further police probe uncovered the identity of one of the suspects believed to have been a member of a secret cult who allegedly murdered one Gideon Ojeaga in his barbing saloon at Iguosa in Benin City.
Similarly, in Ekpoma, police arrested a 500-level mechanical engineering student at one of the Universities, Samuel Anthony.
The officers recovered a Barreta pistol, four live ammunition and one expended cartridge.
One of the suspects told the police, “I am a member of a Secret cult, but I don’t kill. I have never killed. The gun I was holding was to defend myself in case of any attack.”
The Edo state police Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the report but assured that all the suspects would be charged to court soon.
He said, “We can confirm that some groups of secret cult members are fighting at the moment in Edo State. So the police is on top of the situation. One of our interventions is the mass arrest. We will continue with the arrest.”
Some Edo residents have speculated that the current secret cult war in the city might be connected to the killing of a final-year student of the University of Benin, identified as Demond.
The student was shot dead by unknown gunmen in one of the Halls on the campus on 2 April 2023.
Desmond has since been buried, but retaliatory attacks continue in the state.
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