The police in Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, said they have arrested three suspects for allegedly killing a rival cult member in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Timfon John, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday, said the suspects were arrested on 9 April in Eket Local Government Area of the state.
The suspects, identified as Godwin Adam, 35, also known as Nasarawa, Isaac Bassey, 25, and Emmanuel Isong, 29 confessed to being members of the Black Axe confraternity, according to the police spokesperson.
Ms John, an assistant police superintendent, said the suspects killed a rival cult member, Kufre Usoro, 32, also known as Promzy, a member of “Klanz cult group” on 4 April.
“In pursuit of others at large, on Thursday at about 2 p.m., the divisional police officer of Eket Division, acting on intelligence gathered, swiftly mobilised police operatives from the division to Eket-Etinan Road and arrested Victor Eyire aka Tender, 35, of Iseyiridua Village, Eket Local Government Area, along Eket/Etinan Road.”
The suspect, the police said, is the ringleader terrorising the Eket/Etinan/Ekparakwa axis and has been on the police wanted list.
She listed items recovered from the suspects to include one English Pump Action Rifle, one Short Machine Gun, one locally made revolver pistol, eleven rounds of 9mm ammunition, and four rounds of live cartridges.
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The items were recovered from the operational base of the group at Ikot Oku Ikono Village, Uyo Local Government Area, the police said, adding that the suspect has also confessed to being a member of Black Axe cult group.
“Effort is intensified to arrest other fleeing gangs and possible recovery of their weapons,” the police spokesperson said.
Cases of cult violence and killings have been on the rise in the state.
The Akwa Ibom State government in 2018 proscribed 32 cult groups in the state, a measure the government took to tackle the rising cult-related crimes in the state.
At least four people were killed in Uyo, the state capital, last year in a clash between two rival cult groups in the city. Sporadic shootings were reported around communities along Nwaniba Road, leading to Ibom Hotels and Golf Resort, with some residents deserting their homes.
About 65 suspects were later arrested in connection with the renewed cult violence in the city.
PREMIUM TIMES in 2021 reported the death of eight people in a cult clash in Esit Eket Local Government Area of the state when two rival cult groups – Vikings Confraternity and Black Axe – engaged in a fight for supremacy.
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