As men of the Edo State Police Command continue
to intensify effort to rid the state of cultists and armed robbers who have
laid siege on the state capital, a prime suspect and his accomplices yesterday
gave a chilling account of how they killed one Abu Iboje in Benin.
The
suspect, Lazarus Anthony, told newsmen that he was the one who shot the
deceased after he and others went on a reprisal attack on a rival member of a
secret cult group whose activities sparked public outcry following the killing
of over 25 persons in parts of Benin and its environs.
Other
members of the five-man gang who were alleged to have carried out the attack on
April 27, 2015, are Greatman Ita, Sylvester Ikhifa, Obiaosa Noble and Okeh
Godstime. They were arrested on Thursday after months of manhunt by the police
who also recovered cult-related items including black caps belonging to the Neo
Black Movement, five live cartridges, ritzla and other incriminating exhibits
during a raid on them in the state.
The
suspects were said to have swooped on the deceased, a welder, at his workshop
at Eke Street in Benin City. Narrating his involvement in cult activities, the
21-year-old prime suspect, an indigene of Emu in Esan town of Edo State, said,
“I am a cultist and the name of my group is Black Axe.
The incident happened
when Abu and his squad killed Kelvin at Mikky Yaga house at Upper Sakponba.
“The
next day, we went to kill Abu and we shot him in the afternoon. We used a short
gun to kill him. Edoba who stays at Ikki brought the idea that we should go and
kill him. It was me who fired the shot. It was only that one that I have ever
participated in. I was confused after the killing; I didn’t know what came over
me.”
The
suspect who said he joined the group last year begged the federal government to
forgive him as he was ready to renounce the membership of secret cult. “The
federal government should forgive me and I want to renounce from the cult. I
joined the cult last year, 2014, and I am a fashion designer. I am still
learning,” he said.
He
added further that one of the suspects, Greatman Ita, an indigene of Akwa Ibom
drove them on the fateful day the victim was murdered, an allegation the
suspect quickly denied.The suspect added that “we are many. I have not
mentioned others; Edoba, Unity and Charity. Greatman Ita was the driver who
drove there(scene of the attack).
But
when asked Greatman Ita said he was never a member of any cultgroup nor the
said gang, pointing out that he was in front of his shopwhere he sells DVD
items when policemen came and arrested him.
The Police Public Relations Officer
of the command, Mr. Stephen Onwochei, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP)
who paraded thesuspects before newsmen at the command headquarters, said they
would be arraigned in court to face charges. Onwochei who disclosed that the
operatives of the command had been on the trail of the suspects vowed that the
outfit would not rest in its promise to rid the state of criminal elements,
especially, cult related kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements
and their sponsors.
He
noted that between April and May this year there was a rise in theactivities of
cultists, murder, kidnappers, and armed robbery in parts of Edo state which led
to the arrest and arraignment of 227 cult members, adding that the command did
sound a note of warning that it would not relent until these crimes are nipped
in the bud.
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