Cult war: 10 feared dead in Edo
No fewer than 10 persons were yesterday, killed in Benin City, Edo State, as rival cult groups, Aye and Eiye confraternities, engaged in reprisal attacks. The fight heightened tension in the affected areas, as fear gripped residents. This came on a day the ninth victim of herdsmen attack farmers at the Uwheru Kingdom in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, passed on at Delta State University Teaching Hospital, DELSUTH, where he had been receiving treatment for a gunshot wound sustained in the attack.
This is even as Urhobo Economic and Investment Group, UEIG, yesterday warned that if urgent actions were not taken by Delta and federal governments to curb excesses of the herders, the people of Urhobo nation might be left with no option but to defend themselves by any means necessary. The killings in Edo, it was gathered, was triggered by the one year memorial of two kingpins of the two rival cult groups, identified as Africa, said to be the leader of Aye and John Terry, leader of the Eiye group. Both cult leaders were killed in clashes between the two groups late 2018 and early 2019.
The battlegrounds included Osemwende Street junction at Murtala Muhammed Way; Esigie Street junction at Murtala Muhammed Way; and St. Saviour Road, MM Way, by Osa Market. Others were killed near Edo State Property Development Authority, EDPA, along Sakponba Road; Isiuwa Street, opposite St. Saviour Road, near Ohuoba Primary School, Nomayo junction; Aifuwa and Three House area, along Upper Sakponba. An eyewitness told Vanguard that over 30 persons hid in his shop at Three House junction to avoid being hit by a stray bullet, as cult boys shot sporadically.
It was gathered that some suspects arrested in connection with last year’s cult killings, especially the killing of the two leaders, were released last month. Vanguard learned that the renewed clash resulted in indiscriminate arrests by the police but when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, said he was expecting detailed briefing on the killings. “The police as an institution, have a right to randomly arrest people within the vicinity of the crime, screen them and release those found innocent,’’ he said.
In Auchi, also in Edo State, some suspected members of the Vikings clashed with members of Aye Confraternity, leaving many of the boys with various degrees of injuries. Another cult group, Maphites, also clashed with another rival cult group at the university town of Ekpoma. Reacting to the clashes, the Director-General, Legends Anti-violence Foundation, Kadiri Christopher, in a statement, called on youths to be reasonable and wise in their choice of company and the associations they keep. He called on the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, to assist civil society groups in efforts to stamp out cultism from the state. Edo state government condemns renewed cult clash Reacting yesterday, Edo State government condemned the hike in cult-related killings in the state, cautioning that government would not condone any act of violence or exploits of delinquent youths to cause mayhem in the state.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, said it had become expedient to sound a note of warning to anyone disrupting public peace and safety, saying security agencies would spare no resources in bringing violators to book. “We are working closely with the Nigerian Police Force and other relevant security agencies in the state to arrest the rise in cult clashes. We assure that these clashes will be contained,’’ he said. He cautioned parents to keep a close eye on their children and monitor their whereabouts, so they would not be used to do the bidding of desperate persons. Vanguard
