Operatives of the Enugu State Police Command have arrested 24 suspected cultists in Udi Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson of the the command, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, said operatives of the Anti-Cultism Squad, acting on credible information busted a secret cult initiation ceremony inside a forest and arrested the suspects.
The command recovered two locally made pistols, seven black berets and a white-coloured, ten litres can, containing liquid substance suspected to be a mixture of palm wine and Indian hemp used for the initiation.
“On 28/05/2022 at about 4.30am, Police Operatives serving in Anti-Cultism Squad of the Command, acting on credible information, busted a secret cult meeting/initiation process in a forest at Eke in Udi LGA, arrested twenty-four (24) suspects and recovered two (2) locally made pistols, seven (7) black berets and a white-coloured ten litres can, containing liquid substance suspected to be a mixture of palm wine and Indian hemp used for the initiation,” the statement read.
“Ongoing investigation revealed that the suspects are made up of fourteen (14) newly initiated and ten (10) old members of Apache Tigers (“Two-Two”), which is also known as Black Beret (“BB”) Confraternity,”
The suspects include: Eze Lucky Chinemerem aged 27, Igwe Chidimma Jonathan aged 22, Ugwu Chiemerie aged 22, Agubata Chidera aged 22, Abraham Onumah aged 28, Abdulraham Suleiman aged 21, Chizoba Atu aged 23, Sunday Victor aged 23, Eneh Chidera aged 28, Asadu Ejike Stephen aged 25, Eze Chibuzor Emmanuel aged 22, Ebuo Tochukwu Victor aged 27, Ogbodo Mohammed aged 32 and Gabriel Ebubechukwu aged 23.
Others are Offia Emeka Emmanuel aged 26, Ajoku Leo Chiemeka aged 28, Onyekwelu Ugochukwu aged 32, Chibuoke Chukwuemeka aged 40, Chineke Chibueze aged 26, Ugwu Chibuike aged 35, Aneke Chidubem aged 30, Ozougwu Henry aged 29, Aneke Ugochukwu aged 31 and Nwali Ikechukwu aged 25. They all confessed to being members of the secret cult group.
The police spokesman said that all the suspects would be arraigned in court once ongoing investigations are concluded.
Meanwhile, members of the public, particularly residents of the State, have been called upon to remain law-abiding, vigilant and continue to assist the Police with credible and timely information/intelligence it requires to clampdown on unrepentant criminal elements in the State.
