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The suspects
No
fewer than 12 cultists will be charged to court in relation to various
killings in Calabar and other parts of Cross River State, the police
said.
The cultists, who are currently in the
custody of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Cross River
State Police Command in Calabar, are still being investigated before
they would be prosecuted for offences committed at the law court.
Residents of Calabar had in recent times
been terrorised by activities of various cult groups. The situation is
not different from other major towns in the state where the groups had
been involved in killing and maiming of innocent people.
Southern City News learnt on Friday from
the state police command that more arrests were still being made to get
to the root of most of the matters, while dangerous weapons including
guns and large quantity of ammunition had been recovered from the
suspects.
The
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Hogan Bassey, said
those arrested had confessed to being members of the Vikings
Confraternity, Black Axe Confraternity and KK cult group.
He gave the names of the arrested
suspects as Benedict Udoka (28), Paul Asuquo (23) Anthony Orim (22)
Francis Omang (22),EtimNsa (33)EffiongEdet (26), BasseyOrok (18),
EyoBassey (21),EnoBassey (19), UmohEkpo (27), Emmanuel Daniel
(29),PaulinusEdem (28) and Christopher Undie (24).
Bassey said two of the suspects, who
claimed to work for the state Department of Public Transportation, were
arrested at a restaurant along Eyoma Street in Calabar, where they went
to eat ‘dog meat’.
He said, “Information was received on
March 2, 2015 at about 12.45pm that a group of boys suspected to be
cultists were sighted at a dog meat joint along Eyoma Street in Calabar,
the police swung into action and arrested Benedict Udoka and Paul
Asuquo. A locally made pistol was recovered from Benedict. They
confessed to belonging to Viking Confraternity and they will soon be
charged to court.
“Others were arrested in different parts
of the state after killing innocent people during their cult
activities. Items ranging from locally made pistols, ammunition, knives
and cutlasses were recovered from them in the cause of the raid.”
However, responding to the allegations
against them, Benedict, who hails from Obot-Akara Local Government Area
of AkwaIbom State, denied his involvement in cult activities, adding
that he was arrested with a pistol that belonged to his friend.
He said, “I was not doing anything with
the gun. I was about to leave for my place of work at the Department of
Transportation when one of my friend called Martins gave me a polythene
bag to keep for him. I did not know the content. He said he was going to
buy some electrical equipment. I went with the polythene bag to where I
went to eat. Three policemen were there, the place was close to the
Mbukpa Police Station in Calabar-South.
“Meanwhile, a friend of mine was seated
beside me. At that point I decided to open the polythene bag and I
discovered there was gun inside. I drew the attention of my friend
seated beside me to it. I told my friend that I was going to take it to
the police station but my friend advised that it will not be wise and
that I should wait to hand it back to the owner. It was at that point
that the policemen around sensed there was something amidst and they
came to apprehend us.”
However, another arrested suspect
identified as Paul Asuquo, who said he hails from Creek Town in Odukpani
LGA of Cross River State, said they were victims of circumstances but
admitted that they knew it was illegal to possess a firearm that is not
licensed.
“I am not happy about what has happened
to us because in the first place, it was illegal to hold a gun if you do
not have a license for it. It is really not our fault because we are
not the owner of the gun. I was only on duty when my friend called me to
escort him to where we would eat. I do not know the owner, but my
friend knows him,” he said.
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