Rival cults clashed along the popular Zik Avenue, in Awka, Anambra State capital, on Sunday, November 27, 2022, and reportedly claimed six lives.
Residents of the area, according to sources, scampered for safety as the cultists shot sporadically during the clash for supremacy.
Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, who confirmed the incident, said police patrol had been intensified within the area and the entire Awka.
Following the sound of gunshots by Zik Avenue, Awka, police patrol has been intensified in Awka.“Preliminary information revealed that the cause of the shooting was a result of cult-related incident-clash.
The situation is closely being monitored and further development shall be communicated.
8 Reported Dead As Rivers State Cults Clash
Police in Rivers state have said five persons were killed and others wounded on Saturday, November 5, 2022, in the escalating supremacy battle between two cults; the Icelanders and Greenlanders.
However, a resident who said they witness the two-hour-long gun battle, told Vanguard the bodies were eight.
Superintendent Grace Iringe-Koko, Police Public Relations Officers, Rivers Command, in a statement on Sunday, November 6, 2022, disclosed that the clash happened at Abuja Housing Estate, near Immigrations Training School, Ahoada, Ahoada East Local Government Area.
The Police spokesman said, “One Eze Noble ‘m’ of Ahoada reported that yesterday night there was cult clash between Iceland and Greenlanders rival cult at Abuja Housing Estate.
“His in-law, one Chukwujeku Kingsley 36; Chibuike Thankgod, 23 with three others, names, addresses yet unknown, were shot dead inside a jungle where they take drugs.
“Before Police arrival at the scene, three corpses were purportedly removed by their family members for burial while Chibuike Thankgod with one other yet to be identified were deposited at Okpeden Morgue, Ula Ehuda community in the area.”
The Police further noted that the killings were as a result of the lingering cult conflicts that have hit the Ahoada area in recent time, just as the Command has deployed tactical teams to restore normalcy while investigation is ongoing on the situation.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness, resident near the scene of the shooting, told Vanguard, “The dead, from what we know, could be more than the five police confirmed.
“It was a crazy gun duel between the two cults. The body count at the scene were up to eight.
“Some residents have deserted their homes, others remain indoor for fear of another eruption of the gun battle.
“The shooting lasted for more than two hours, yet there was no intervention from the key security bases in Ahoada.”
INTERPOL Arrests Over 70 Suspects Linked To Black Axe Cult In Nigeria
The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) says it has arrested 75 persons linked to Black Axe, one of Nigeria’s biggest cult groups.
In a report, Interpol said it coordinated a global operation, codenamed ‘Operation Jackal’, specifically against Black Axe.
The operation involved 14 countries across four continents from September 26 to September 30, 2022.
The international police described the group as one that is “rapidly becoming a major security threat worldwide.”
“Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud as well as many other serious crimes, according to evidence analyzed by Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, IFCACC, and national law enforcement,” the report reads.
“In South Africa alone, the two suspects arrested were wanted for online scams that extracted USD 1.8 million from victims.
“In Italy, the Carabinieri made three arrests in Campobasso within the framework of the operation.”
Interpol said in the course of the operation, 49 properties were searched, 75 arrests were made, and 1.2 million Euro was intercepted in bank accounts.
“The immense quantity of assets seized, including 12,000 SIM cards, have provided new investigative leads for law enforcement, generating 13 analytical reports and allowing police to identify more than 70 additional suspects,” the report reads.
“The lavish lifestyles and greed of many suspects – allegedly paid for by defrauding members of the public of their savings and other criminal activities – was on clear display at the scenes of their arrest.
“Various luxury assets were seized, including a residential property, three cars, and tens of thousands in cash.”
Stephen Kavanagh, executive director of police services, Interpol, said: “Illicit financial funds are the lifeblood of transnational organized crime, and we have witnessed how groups like Black Axe will channel money gained from online financial scams into other crime areas, such as drugs and human trafficking.
“These groups demand a global response.”
Source: Vanguard
