Police in Edo State have confirmed that 41 suspected cultists, including 30 Auchi Polytechnic students, have been arrested for alleged killing destroying property in the wake of the cult clashes and other crimes that swept through the state recently.
According to Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, eleven of the suspects are alleged cult leaders while the rest are students and artisans who have played various roles in the recent crimes plaguing Edo State.
Ojukwu said the suspects were nabbed by an anti-cultism team recently set up by Inspector General of the Police Solomon Arase.
“This afternoon, I am presenting before you some persons suspected to have played ignoble roles in acts of terror, and vicious inter and intra-cult conflicts that have led to loss of lives and destruction of property in Edo State,” Ojukwu said.
“The suspects who are leaders of cult confraternities are being interrogated for their conspiratorial involvement in the murder of ten Nigerians.”
Ojukwu also mentioned that pictures of Nigerians with “RIP” written over their faces were seized.
The Black Axe Confraternity, Nosman Confraternity, and Judas Confraternity were among the names of the cult group involved in the killings.
It would be recalled that following a reign of terror unleashed by cult gangs in Edo State, the Inspector General Police, Mr Solomon Arase, penultimate week, dispatched a crack squad to the state.
