From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Police Command, yesterday, threatened to seal off hotels, houses and other property that serve as safe haven for cultists in the state.
This was contained in a statement signed by the state Commissioner of Police, Dankwara Mohammed, after a meeting with some concerned citizens of the state and made available to newsmen in Benin, through the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor.
“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. 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 withdraw their patronages or be ready to face arrest, prosecution in court and such properties aforementioned sealed-up through the instrument of the law”, the commissioner said.
He stressed that the fight to get rid of crimes of whatever forms in the state must be sustained by the police in the state.
“The good people of Edo State, and the general public, I want to assure you that this operation to get rid of cultism and other heinous crimes in the state is a continuous process, and by the grace of God, we will achieve it”, Mohammed said.
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.
On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the command’s anti-cultism, anti-kidnapping, and cyber crime unit, in collaboration with the Edo State Security Network (ESSN), 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.