The police in Edo State have detained four suspects for their alleged involvement in cult activities in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of the state.
Moses Yamu, the police spokesperson in the state, confirmed their arrest and detention in a statement on Tuesday in Benin.
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Mr Yamu, a chief superintendent of police, said their arrests followed the killing of a motor park manager, simply identified as AK, in the town on Saturday.
He said the police arrested the suspects on Sunday during a coordinated house-to-house operation by the Anti-Cultism Unit operatives, in collaboration with officers from the Jattu and Auchi Divisions.
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Mr Yamu identified the suspects as being in their mid-20s, saying that intelligence revealed that the suspects were responsible for cult violence in Auchi and its environs.
The Commissioner of Police in Edo, Monday Agbonika, assured the public of the command’s resolve to rid the state of cultism, assuring that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
The shooting occurred amidst escalating tension in Auchi and its environs over a reported dispute between two rival cult groups – Aye and Vikings confraternities.
It was gathered that the dispute was exacerbated by the reported attempt on the life of the Aye leader in Uzarue community, near Auchi.
Members of Aye were said to have accused the rival group, a development that purportedly triggered a retaliation.
Edo has been notorious for cultism and cult-related killings.
The police said in November last year that the spate of cult violence and the proliferation of arms in the state was worrisome.
The then-Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo, while announcing a ban on the activities of Okaigheles (youth leader) in Edo South District, June last year, in a renewed effort to tackle the menace, said the state at some point lost 150 people in five months to cult-related clashes.
Mr Obaseki’s successor, Monday Okpebholo, said in November last year that the state loses over $1 billion worth of investments annually because of cult-related violence.
Mr Okpebholo, just like his predecessor, has declared war on cultism, but the government’s efforts seem to yield little or no success as the killings continued.
