The Edo State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Dankwara, announced on Thursday that 53 individuals have been apprehended in relation to activities linked to secret societies in the state.
He cautioned residents and organizations in the state to cease supporting these groups by supplying them with resources for their illicit activities.
The statement read, “It would be recalled that recently there was an upsurge in secret cult activities and killings in the state where some unidentified cultists had covert meetings in hotels, apartments, lounges, houses and drinking joints in various parts of the city and plotted how to assault and eliminate their perceived rival secret cult members, which led to the death of some individuals.
“This necessitated my meeting with my management team and command tactical teams. In the end, I gave a marching order to them to go into the streets, smoke out the cultists and arrest them all.
“On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the command’s anti-cultism, Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Units, in collaboration with the Edo State Security Network, while acting on credible information, arrested 53 male suspects in different locations. The suspects have been profiled, investigated and processed to court, and as I speak, they are in prison
“In a bid to expand ideas in finding solutions in fighting the scourge of secret cult activities and killings in the state, I had a meeting with some concerned citizens in my office and after a peaceful deliberation, we came out with some credible and workable solutions, of which I cannot disclose at this meeting until they are executed and targeted results are achieved.”
