BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON
Benin City, Edo, Nigeria – Edo State Police Command has vowed to employed relevant legal means to seal any hotel, lounges, apartments, drinking joints and other recreation centers linked to cult-related activities in the state.
The command also warned patrons and members of various cult groups to stop the killings, vacate Edo State or be ready to face the full wrath of the law.
The Commissioner of Police, Edo State CP Mohammed Dankwara gave the warning today, while briefing journalists on measures so far taken by the command to stem the recent upsurge of cult violence in Benin City.
“It would be recalled that recently there was up-surge in secret cult activities and killings in the state where some faceless cultists had clandestine meetings in hotels, apartments, lounges, houses, drinking joints of different locations in the City and discussed on how to attack and kill their perceived rival secret cult members, of which some cultists were attacked and killed.
“This necessitated my meeting with my management team and Command Tactical teams. In the end, I gave a marching order to them to go into the streets, smoke out the cultists, and arrest them all,” CP Dankwara stated.
The police boss disclosed that a raid conducted by a joint team of police and Edo State Security Network resulted in the arrest of 53 suspects and recovery of arms and ammunition.
“On Thursday, 13th July 2023, the Command’s Anti-Cultism, Anti-Kidnapping, and Cyber Crime Unit, in collaboration with the Edo State Security Network, while acting on credible information arrested a total number of 53 male suspects in different locations. The suspects have been profiled, investigated, and processed to court, and as I speak, they are in prison.
“In a bid to expand ideas in finding solutions in fighting the scourge of secret cult activities and killings in the state, I had a meeting with some concern citizens in my office and after a peaceful deliberation we came out with some credible and workable solutions, of which I cannot disclose at this meeting until they are executed and targeted results are met.
“Finally, I want to use this medium to warn all secret cult members of different cult groups to stop the killings or vacate the state. I also want to warn all the state actors, non-state actors and sponsors of the various secret cult confraternities who give out their monies, Hotels, apartments, lounges, Houses, Drinking joints or any other dwelling place as support for clandestine meetings to withdrawn their patronages or be ready to face arrest, prosecution in court and such properties aforementioned sealed-up through the instrument of the law”, he noted.
The following were given as summary of suspects arrested, 125, charged 97, screened/released 13, under investigation 14 while three locally made single barrel guns and two cartridges, were recovered. CP Dankwara however assured the general public that this operation against cultism and other heinous crimes in the state is a continuin
