Police Arrest Suspected Native Doctor, Cultists In Delta, Edo
Operatives from the Delta State Police Command have arrested suspected cultists and an armed native doctor in separate operations in Ughelli North and Ibusa of the state.
In a statement released on Tuesday, by the command’s spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, the arrests took place between June 14 and 18.
The operatives recovered dangerous weapons including two pump-action guns, a battle axe, and a locally made pistol.
The statement noted that on June 18, a police surveillance team at Otokutu Bridge, Warri, stopped a black Toyota Corolla with registered number plate RSH 90 RC driven by Telvin Richmond (27) and Frank Obiorah (26), both of Opete by Otokutu.
“During a thorough search of the vehicle, officers discovered a locally made cut-to-size gun, two yellow hand bands marked with ‘NBM’ (Neo Black Movement), a battle axe, and a wooden pistol concealed inside the door compartment,” the statement said.
Preliminary investigations identified the suspects as members of the Aiye Confraternity.
According to the police, one of them confessed to purchasing the firearm in 2024 for N87,000 from a now-at-large suspect.
Both men, the police said, are in custody, and investigations are ongoing.
In a separate operation on June 14, the police said, operatives of the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad raided the residence of one Okonji Chimeze (47), a native doctor, at Umuehe Quarter, Ibusa.
“Acting on credible intelligence, a search warrant was executed at his home, where two automatic pump-action guns and a cutlass were recovered from the ceiling of his room,” Edafe stated.
The suspect and the recovered weapons are also in police custody, with further investigations underway.
Meanwhile, the police command in Edo State detained four suspects for their alleged involvement in cult activities in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of the state.
The command’s spokesperson, Moses Yamu, confirmed their arrest and detention in a statement on Tuesday in Benin.
Yamu said their arrests followed the killing of a motor park manager, simply identified as AK, in the town on Saturday.
He said the operatives of the command arrested the suspects on Sunday during a coordinated house-to-house operation by the operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit, in collaboration with officers from the Jattu and Auchi Divisions.
Yamu stated that the suspects were in their mid-twenties, saying that intelligence revealed that the suspects were responsible for cult violence in Auchi and its environs.
The state Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, assured the public of the command’s resolve to rid the state of cultism, assuring that the suspects would be charged in court upon conclusion of investigations.
Police Arrest Suspected Native Doctor, Cultists In Delta, Edo is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
