Police Parade Cult Suspects Amid Waves of Killings

Despite concerted efforts by both state and federal governments to curb the escalating tide of cult-related violence, Edo and some other states continue to experience a harrowing surge in killings linked to rival cult groups.
 
Our correspondent investigation revealed that in the last two weeks alone, at least 26 people have been brutally murdered in Benin City, the Edo state capital.

 Findings  further suggest that the ongoing conflict involving the Neo Black Movement of Africa (Black Axe), Vikings and the Eiye Confraternity has claimed lives and shows no sign of abating.
 
This latest wave of bloodshed erupted barely a month after Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki set up a special security task force aimed at tackling cultism and its associated vices. The task force, which includes personnel from the police, army, NSCDC, immigration, and other security agencies, is headed by the state’s Director of the Department of State Services (DSS).
 
In a recent press briefing shortly after a security meeting at the Government House, Governor Obaseki lamented the rise in violence, revealing that 150 youths had been killed in Edo State between January and May 2024 alone. He condemned the violence, emphasizing that cultism and kidnapping are the state’s most pressing security challenges.
 
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Umoru Ozigi, on November 15, 2024, paraded several suspected cultists arrested with a cache of arms and ammunition.
 
CP Umoru said the suspects were apprehended at various locations across the state amid the increasing wave of killings, which police believe are linked to turf wars between rival cult factions.
 
“On October 31, 2024, acting on credible intelligence, operatives from the Raiders Squad stormed Iyekemuose Street in Benin City,” CP Ozigi said. “We arrested one Osamudiamen James, 44, who was found with a pump-action rifle and two live cartridges. He confessed to being a member of the Supreme Eiye Confraternity and led us to their hidden armoury, although another suspect, Omokaro Joseph, managed to escape.”
 
Following a manhunt, Omokaro Joseph, also known as Joe Best, was apprehended on November 3, 2024. He, too, admitted to his affiliation with the Eiye group. Police recovered additional weapons, including another pump-action rifle, live cartridges, and a gun muffler, during the operation.
 
He explained that the violence has resulted to several high-profile killings. Among the victims is 24-year-old Johnson Bada, a commercial bus driver who was beheaded by his attackers on October 22, 2024, in Upper Sakponba area of Benin City.
 
“Another shocking incident when gunmen shot an undergraduate, Isibor Marvelous dead in front of his mother’s shop on Odeh Street, off Siluko Road on October 22.

“The conflict has also claimed the life of Iyiosayi Bright, a member of the Black Axe, whose body was dismembered and dumped in a roadside bush in the Ekosodin area near the University of Benin (UNIBEN). Other victims include Keinde Adeoye, Solomon Uche, and a middle-aged woman named Sandra Efosa.
 
“The case of Sandra Efosa has drawn particular attention. Gunmen had raided her family home in search of her brother, Efosa Omorotionmwan Junior, who our investigation revealed had been on the run since February 2022. The attackers, have been misinformed that he had returned to the area, mistakenly killed Sandra when they could not find him during invasion of his family residence at Ogheghe, Upper Siluko road, last month.

“Our record also revealed that a similar attack claimed  the  life of  the family  member, Efosa Osawaru, a Russia-based who visited in December 2023”, he stated.
 
Giving update on the incident, the police spokesman in Edo SP Chidi Nwabuzor confirmed the arrests of two suspects in connection with Efosa Sandra’s killing.

“While the suspects confessed to being cult members, they denied involvement in the death of Efosa Sandra claiming that the killing was a case of mistaken identity and that they had been hunting for her brother Efosa Omorotionmwan Junior.
 
“The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder, however, due to lack of evidence, they were released, and the police are left with limited options in their pursuit of justice”, SP Nwabuzor said.
 
Further  checks revealed another disturbing case, Engineer Destiny Okpako, 44, and his elderly father, Pa Okpako Ologbo, were shot and killed by gunmen in front of a church on Sapele Road. The two victims were traveling in a red Toyota Camry when they were ambushed by two gunmen on a motorcycle.

As Edo and other states in the country grapple with the ongoing wave of cult-related killings, the government and law enforcement agencies face an uphill battle to restore peace and security to the states. With more lives lost each day, the question remains, how much longer can this cycle of violence continue before meaningful solutions are found?