Anambra
Awka — The Anambra State Police Command has arrested four suspected cultists following a violent clash in Nsugbe community, Anambra East Local Government Area.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday behind the Nwafor Orizu College of Education, saw suspected cultists attacking one another with cutlasses, broken bottles, daggers, and other weapons.
Police spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Wednesday, confirmed the arrests, noting that the operation was carried out jointly by police operatives and local vigilantes.
The suspects were identified as Oyachonam Friday (26), Akachukwu Ekwenze (23), David Chukwuma (25), and Eziolise Aloysius (23). According to the police, Chukwuma sustained machete injuries during the fracas and is receiving treatment.
Ikenga disclosed that the suspects confessed to being members of the “AYES” confraternity, while efforts are ongoing to track down others who fled into nearby bushes.
> “The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, reassures Ndi Anambra that the Command remains relentless in its fight against cultism and other violent crimes in the state,” the statement read.
The arrests come amid heightened concerns over cult-related violence in Anambra. Just last week, gunmen suspected to be cultists opened fire on mourners during a burial in Ogidi, Idemili North LGA, killing four people and injuring about 15 others.
Authorities say operations will be intensified to curb the rising wave of cult clashes across communities in the state.
