Police Arrest 26 Suspects For Cultism, Illegal Firearms Possession

Enugu State Police Command has arrested 26 male suspects for alleged offences of conspiracy, unlawful possession of firearms/ammunition and cult activities.

The spokesman of the police in Enugu, ASP Daniel Ndukwe said the arrests led to the recovery of one English-made Berretta pistol with one live round of .9mm calibre ammunition, four locally-made pistols with three live cartridges and other incriminating exhibits.

Ndukwe said on 29th May, 2022 at about 11pm, a combined team of police operatives drawn from Operation Restore Peace (ORP) and Enugu Metro Area Command, while on routine stop/search duty along Abakaliki Road, Enugu, intercepted in a commercial bus and arrested one Obinna Owoh, age 22, of Ntezi in Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State, while two of his cohorts escaped.

He said search conducted on him led to the recovery of two locally made pistols with three live cartridges.

“Similarly, on 28/05/2022 at about 5.30pm, Police Operatives serving in the Nsukka Sector of the Command’s Crack Squad arrested one Benedict Nwodo aged 29, of Ugwuechara in Nsukka, following their prompt response to a distress call alleging that he was sighted with a gun along CSO Site in Nsukka. One English-made Berretta pistol with one live round of .9mm calibre of ammunition was recovered from him.

“In a related development, 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 local government area, arrested 24 suspects and recovered two locally made pistols, seven black berets and a white-colour 10 litres can, containing liquid substance suspected to be a mixture of palm wine and Indian hemp used for the initiation. Ongoing investigation revealed that the suspects are made up of 14 newly initiated and 10 old members of Apache Tigers (“Two-Two”), which is also known as Black Beret (“BB”) Confraternity,” he said.

He said all the suspects shall be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded.

Ndukwe urged members of the public, particularly residents of the state 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.