several cultists arrested by ther police over Calabar killings

Firstclass newsline learnt that 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.

Firstclass newsline 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.

Firstclassnewsline.net