The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • Couple, another killed as cultists go berserk in Ikorodu

    A couple and a mentally unstable woman were in the wee hours yesterday murdered by suspected members of the Black Axe cult group in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

    The killings occurred at about 3:42am at Itupate area of the town when hoodlums said to be over 80, struck in search of members of Eiye cult

    It was gathered that the attack was carried out to avenge alleged brutality meted to one of their members identified as Lanre three days earlier.

    The Nation gathered that the said Lanre had escaped lynching by members of Eiye fraternity who claimed he was using his position to shield Aiye members in Ikorodu.

    No fewer than 10 persons are believed to been killed in cult-related violence in the area in the last three weeks.

    A resident who asked not to be named for fear of retribution told The Nation that residents were woken up by screams from the hoodlums who were chanting war songs.

    “They went straight to Lati’s house. His younger brother and wife lived there. It seems they came for his younger brother who is alleged to be an Eiye member. They killed him.

    Read Also: Five feared killed in Ikorodu cult war

    “Then, his wife recognised one of the killers as Lanre’s boy and when they saw she had identified them, they killed her too.

    “As they were leaving, a mad woman was pouring water on them and they shot her dead. These killings have become worrisome in Ikorodu. The police in Ikorodu need to sit up.

    “The police in Ikorodu did not show up in all of these. I am telling you that they only came out with Onyabo (a local vigilante group in the town) after the cultists and miscreants had retreated. We cannot continue to live in fear as a result of the activities of criminals. Let the police go after the criminals and their sponsors.

    “Who is buying arms and ammunition for these cultists? Who is using them? Will the police say they do not know them? Can’t the police arrest Lanre?

    “There are complaints that Lanre’s  boys are receving the backing of  some influential people and that is why they are about committing atrocities.”

    Our correspondent gathered that while the RRS were dislodging those who advanced towards the palace in protest, miscreants were said to have taken advantage of the melee to vandalize people’s shops, carting away television sets, fans and other valuables.

    Contacted, police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) said the violence occurred around 10pm on Thursday, adding that two cultists died and six injured.

    He said Friday’s melee was as a result of the police’ clampdown on the hoodlums which led to the arrest of 21 suspects including an alleged notorious kingpin.

    He said the police received a distress call that some cult members from two rival groups engaged themselves in supremacy battle along Isikalu palace and Solomade area of Ikorodu.

    “The command’s anti-cultism unit and patrol teams from Ikorodu were promptly drafted to the scene. The leader of the gang, who has been on the wanted list of the command, Yusuf Omidele is popularly known as General was arrested and twenty other cultists.

    “General was charged to court on several occasions and sentenced to prison. He completed his last sentence in 2014 and has become an Elder-in- Council in Eiye Confraternity. He led his gang in a reprisal attack on the members of Aiye, whom they alleged to have killed the wife of one of their leaders some weeks ago.

    “The suspects arrested belong to both Aye and Eiye confraternity and have all confessed to belonging to secret societies. Two cultists died from the cult clash and six others were injured.

    “The massive onslaught launched by the command on cultists and gangsters is a continuous operation with a view to arresting other fleeing members of the gangs. Four locally made pistols, eight machetes and three daggers were recovered. Suspects will be charged to court.

    “To proffer a  lasting solution to youth gangsterism, involvement of teenagers and underage persons in cult activities, especially at Ikorodu, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Zubairu Muazu yesterday met with traditional rulers, religious leaders, elder statesmen, parents, youths and other stakeholders at Ikorodu. All the stakeholders agreed to join the police in the fight against the menace of cultism and gangsterism,” he said.

     

  •  Police fault YCE on herdsmen siege in Ogun

    Ogun State Police Command has faulted a statement credited to the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE)  that herdsmen had laid siege to the Southwest, including Ogun State

    The state police command said that adequate security necessary measures had been put in place to guarantee safety of lives and property as well as prevent herdsmen – farmers clash.

    In a statement issued in Abeokuta, the state capital, the command’s spokesman, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi said the state had not recorded herdsmen-farmers clash in a long time due to proactive security initiatives of the command.

    “Ogun State Police Command being an integral part of the South-West, wishes to set the record straight on the lingering herdsmen-farmers’ clashes across the country as it relates to Ogun State.

    Read also: One killed as Police, armed robbers clash in Imo

    “The Command admits that there had been past incidents of herdsmen-farmers clash in the state, however, the incidents were few and far in-between. “Also, none was serious enough to have placed the state under siege as they were expeditiously and amicably resolved”.

    ”There are also existing committees comprising representatives of the stakeholders that monitor the activities of herdsmen and farmers and enforce mutually agreed sanctions against acts capable of breaching existing understanding and public peace.’’

    Oyeyemi urged YCE not to use a recent clash between herdsmen and farmers in Iwoye Ketu in Imeko Afon Local Government on May 1, 2019 to judge the state.

    ”Attempt by the natives to stop the herdsmen from further polluting the stream resulted in a fight in which casualties were recorded on both sides. On receiving the information, the Command as usual, swiftly moved into the scene and brought the situation under control.  Six herdsmen who were suspected to have direct involvement in the fracas were arrested and have since been arraigned. Normalcy has since been restored to the community and everybody is going about his or her legitimate business without hindrance or any form of molestation.

    ”The Command therefore wishes to reassure the YCE and indeed the entire citizens of Ogun state that the police will continue to monitor the activities of herdsmen in Ogun state to encourage lawful conduct of their legitimate activities”.

    ”The Command will be courageous in taking decisions that will measure up to justice, equity and good conscience.  Ogun State under the watch of police command will never come under the siege of herdsmen or any other groups with such sinister intentions”.

  • Presidency: NGOs, CSOs confirm Buhari’s social investment progress

    Presidential source last night said more than three independent groups have gone to the field across the country to confirm the progress made under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP).

    The NSIP includes the N-Power programme, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which consists of MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni schemes.

    The President’s wife, Mrs Aisha Buhari, a fortnight ago, raised the alarm that the SIP had not made meaningful impact on Nigerians in the North, especially Kano and Adamawa states.

    But the source, who spoke in confidence, said details were emerging from independent verification on the government’s SIP.

    He said: “No less than three independent groups have gone to the field, besides other independent media reports, to check the claims of the government on the impact of the current four SIP schemes.”

    According to him, the independent economic groups include Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Action Aid and the National Economic Summit Group.

    “Each of them has handled an on-the-ground, unfettered appraisal of the SIPs and has confirmed independently the claims of the Federal Government.

    “This was important to the President and the Vice-President to ensure that the administration is not just dependent on reports that come in from bureaucrats and those entrusted with the implementation.

    “This is besides other official means of verification, including when the beneficiaries themselves came out in their thousands on Monday in Kano to offer their gratitude and prayers for the President’s second term.”

    In separate reports made available to the Presidency, the source said the three groups hailed the NSIP for meeting the urgent needs of Nigerians in different areas, such as providing employment, supporting small businesses and poverty alleviation.

    “Some of the reports are also in the public place as the groups have conducted press conferences and public presentations,” he said.

    On Action Aid report, the source said: “According to its 2018 Third-Party Monitoring Report, Action Aid focused on three out of four programmes, namely: Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), N-Power and the GEEP schemes across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    “The report noted that the SIP, despite the challenges encountered, are effective and relevant in the states because their expected outcomes have been achieved.

    “The programmes are also relevant because they have met the urgent needs of the beneficiaries. The NSIP also are, no doubt, aligned with the international and national expectations of social protection interventions and have contributed towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    Read Also: Buhari hails Osinbajo, urges him to remain exemplary

    “The report described the school feeding programme as effective as ‘most expected outcomes have been achieved: feeding of pupils in primary one to three reportedly resulted in increased enrolment in schools’.

    “Similarly, it noted that through the GEEP, small business owners in Nigeria have ‘gained access to micro-credit finance to expand their businesses’. Graduates were trained and linked to paid employment while non-graduates were equipped with skills to be self-employable through the N-Power programmes.

    “The N-Power job scheme provides jobs for 500,000 young Nigerian graduates and 20,000 non-graduates in different areas of public services. Known as N-Power volunteers, they are deployed in all the 774 local government areas of the 36 states.

    “The Home-Grown School Feeding programme is now feeding over 9.5 million children in public schools in 31 states nationwide, while the GEEP loans, comprising MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni, is providing micro-credit loans to over 2 million Nigerian petty traders, artisans and businessmen nationwide.”

    On the ANEEJ and the independent oversight on Abacha loot, the Presidency source said: “In the same vein, findings from Independent Civil Society Organisations Monitoring the use of returned $322.5 million Abacha Loot on Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) to Poorest of Poor Nigerians show that the money is largely going to poor Nigerians.

    “The Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, at a media briefing in Abuja in May to present the findings of civil society organisations (CSOs), said: “The monitoring exercise conducted spot checks on the Funds disbursed in the August to September payment round to 30,778 beneficiaries in 11 States across five geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

    “ANEEJ further states that, in spite of some few challenges associated with the exercise, the monitoring carried out in December 2018 shows that the returned Abacha loot disbursed for August-September 2018 payment round was received by target beneficiaries as confirmed by 78.8% per cent of households visited by the monitoring team.

    “The field monitoring of the use of the returned Abacha loot is being carried out by Civil Society Organisations led by the (ANEEJ) under the Transparency and Accountability in the Recovery and Management of looted Assets (MANTRA) project being supported by UKAID under the Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (ACORN) programme.

    “The exercise spanned two weeks and was conducted across reporting levels of the National Cash Transfer Office, their State and Local Government structures as well as the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office with their States officials. Data were reviewed end-to-end from the Central Bank of Nigeria, World Bank, Conditional Cash Transfer programme, and the National Beneficiary register.” Ugolor said.”

    “Our findings show that a total of 974,478,000 million naira was released from the Abacha loot to the beneficiaries for payment in the August September Payment round as at the time of the monitoring exercise. The funds disbursed from the Abacha loot comprise 80% of the funds paid at the August September payment cycle. Data retrieved from the NCTO report that 33 million dollars (N3,786,063,783 billion) was released for 6 months from the Abacha loot and converted at an exchange rate of 305.45 Naira to a dollar. Bank charges of 28,560 naira was deducted…”

    He said that the CSOs, among other recommendations, called for a review of the payment option for beneficiaries to include electronic transfers.

    On the DFID report, he said that Sonia Warner, Senior Adviser, Department for International Development (DFID)-UK, said ANEEJ played a pivotal role in the Monitoring of Recovered Assets in Nigeria with Transparency and Accountability (MANTRA) Project to monitor US$322.5 million returned to Nigeria from Switzerland.

    Warner said she “feels a strong sense of achievement being part of an intervention which has demonstrated that it is possible to retrieve stolen money and use it to support the victims of corruption in Nigeria.”

    “During the pilot phase, MANTRA mobilised a network of civil society organisations to monitor end-to-end, the use of the US$322.5 million which the government committed to cash transfer payments for the poorest Nigerians under its National Social Investment Fund Programme. This means MANTRA’s monitoring all movements in the Central Bank Account where this money sits, down to 30,778 beneficiary households to ensure the US$22 million so far disbursed is protected from re-looting.

    “This is the first time such an initiative has been piloted in Nigeria and the mobilisation of local organisations and citizens will support local ownership and sustainability,” she said, adding that the political backing from the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, which launched MANTRA on African Anti-Corruption Day in July 2018, helped MANTRA to leverage acceptance and recognition by high-level Government stakeholders.

    According to the Presidency source, the most recent findings is from the impact evaluation report of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), which also corroborated the findings of the CSOs and Action Aid.

    He said: “The report noted that the Social investment Programmes of the Buhari administration would help reduce the number of Nigerians who live in extreme poverty if Federal Government can partner more with State Governments to scale up the programmes in the states. The NESG added that this was necessary as millions of Nigerians have benefitted from the SIPs, but that state government partnership is a challenge that should be resolved.”

  • Police: we’re not overwhelmed by insecurity in Rivers

    The spokesman of Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), has said the command is not overwhelmed by insecurity in the Niger Delta state.

    He spoke on Tuesday on phone while assuring residents of the safety of their lives and property.

    The immediate past Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who is a former Rivers State governor, recently accused his successor, Nyesom Wike, of lacking the capacity to effectively govern the volatile state.

    Amaechi, a chieftain of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), insisted that there was insecurity in all the 23 local government areas of the state, especially with penultimate week’s killing of 40 innocent persons in a community in Ogoni community.

    Wike, who is one of the leaders of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), urged Rivers residents and other Nigerians to ignore Amaechi’s “lies”.

    The governor described the former minister as frustrated.

    Read Also: Wike inaugurates ninth Rivers Assembly

    Wike said he remained focused with investors trooping into the state as a result of the acclaimed improvement in security across the state.

    Omoni said: “The police in Rivers State are doing their best to contain criminal activities. We indeed have pockets of criminal activities in the state, but we are on top of the situation. We are not overwhelmed.

    “It must be pointed out that insecurity is not peculiar to Rivers State, but we are doing our best to provide tight security for more investors to be moving into the state.”

    He urged the public to continually give useful and timely information to the police to ensure the safety of lives and property.

     

  • ‘Why we specialised in robbing only women’

    It was the end of road for three suspected members of a robbery gang, which specialised in snatching exotic vehicles from women in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

    The suspected robbers were arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team(IRT).

    The trio , identified as Ego Ike, Obinna Igwe and Adamu Nuhu, were  arrested at their hideout in Abuja and Kaduna State, after they robbed a female staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)of her vehicle, while she was returning home from work.

    The suspects were said to have taken the vehicle, a 2016 Toyota Corolla, to Katsina State, before it was smuggled into Niger Republic.

    Nigerien policemen, however, accosted the gang and impounded the vehicle, while a member of the gang identified simply as Yellow, was arrested as Ike, Igwe and Nuhu, escaped back into the country.

    The owner of the car was said to have reported to the police, following which the Inspector General of Police asked the IRT to fish out the bandits for diligent prosecution.

    Some victims of the gang provided information that aided the operatives in apprehending three members of the gang, leaving behind the ring leader, identified simply as Linus, who is still at large.

    On interrogation, the suspects explained that they targeted women because women can’t put up stiff resistance like  men.  The suspects also disclosed that most of the vehicles they robbed were mainly Toyota products because of the huge demand for it in the market.

    Ike, 30, was quoted as saying that he took to crime because he lost all his life savings  to gambling.

    He said: “ I am  a native of Anambra State and I  went into crime because I  lost the N6 million I was using to run my  clothing business to gambling. I am a primary school dropout. I was formerly a spare parts  dealer at the Ladipo market, Lagos, but I  moved to Abuja in search of  greener pasture and when I couldn’t find my bearing, I pressured my father to sell his  only land in the village and he sent me to Istanbul Turkey, with the money.  I stayed in Istanbul for three years; I worked and saved  close to N6 million. Then I started importing clothes into Nigeria.  I was supplying several shops around Abuja and Lagos State, but in 2016, one of my friends introduced me to a sport betting game and I lost all my money.

    ‘’My resident permits in Istanbul expired and I had no money to renew it. I became frustrated and I met Linus in one of my brother’s houses in Jai area of Abuja and we became friends. He introduced me to an armed robbery gang  which had Obinna and Yellow as members and we stole a Toyota RAV4 Sport Utility Vehicle from a woman who was driving into her house in Shafar Road, Abuja,and we took the car to Kaduna.

    ‘’We gave the car to Nuhu, and he offered to pay N200,000. We also accosted another woman in Buhari area of Abuja. Another woman driving a Toyota Matrix and stopped in front of a shop to buy something; we approached her, snatched the car from her and  took it to Kaduna.

    Read Also: Masari’s wife donates rice to women

    ‘’We were paid N270,000 for the car. We didn’t know that the woman who owned the Toyota Matrix works with the Federal Road Safety Corps. The third car we stole was also from a woman who was driving a Toyota Corolla car at Kado Estate in Abuja. We used Yellow’s car to collect the woman’s car. We blocked the woman’s car with Yellow’s car and collected it from the woman. We took the car that night to Niger Republic, but at the Katsina border, Linus and I came down from the car, took a bike and crossed into the country, while Yellow and a man, who I don’t know, took the car into Niger Republic but the Nigerien police stopped them and arrested them.  We targeted women because we don’t use guns and women are an easy catch and most of them are not security conscious. We target Toyota cars because they are easy to sell and the demand for it is on the high side.”

    Confessing, Nuhu, 19, a native of Kaduna State, said: “I attended only primary education. I was 17-year-old when I started stealingvcars. There is this man known as ‘MD’, who I met when I was selling phones in Kaduna State.  ’MD’ is one of my customers who normally buys phones from me and there was this time 2017, when I was attacked by armed robbers and all my phones were stolen and I was stranded.

    ‘’I approached ‘MD’ to assist me because he was always having money and ‘MD’ told me that since I know how to drive, I will be useful to his company. He did not tell me what his company does, rather, ‘MD’ started giving me cars to deliver for him to several states and he was paying between N30,000 to N40,000.

    ‘’He (‘MD’) gave me a master key and showed me how to use it. The first car I stole with the master key was a Toyota Carina and I sold the car in a market in Tuniga Maji, along Kaduna Abuja Expressway. I took the car to Kaduna and gave it to one Mohammed Garuba and he bought it from me for N120, 000. Later, ‘MD’ called me and asked me to meet one Yellow and asked me to collect a vehicle from him, but the vehicle had an engine problem then and we contacted Garuba who  bought it for N180,000.

    He added: ‘’Then I stole three other Toyota Camry cars from the market at Tuniga Maji area along the Kaduna Abuja Expressway and  sold the three Toyota Camry cars for N420,000 to one Alhaji in Sokoto State.

    ‘MD’ also gave me four Toyota Corolla cars to deliver to one Abdul, who is a middle man between car thieves in Nigeria and receivers in Niger Republicepublic. Later in September 2018, Yellow introduced me to his own gang members, who were operating mainly in Abuja with guns, and one of them known as Linus, though he is yet to be arrested, called me and said he was coming with some of his brothers from Benue State who were armed with AK47 rifles and they wanted to carry out a robbery operation in that state but they didn’t know the terrain.

    ‘’I asked Ego, who was also their gang member, to call me, while I was waiting for them, the police showed up and I was arrested.”

  • Six suspected kidnappers killed in shootout with police in Rivers

    The  Rivers Police Command on Friday  killed six alleged kidnap suspects in shootouts with the police.

    Police Commissioner Usman Belele told reporters in Port Harcourt that  his men had stormed the suspects’  hideout at Eneka in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers.

    On sighting the police,  the suspects allegedly opened fire ,wounding  two police officers.

    Belel said when his officers returned fire, five gang members were “fatally wounded.”

    They were taken to University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UTPH) but were confirmed dead by a medical doctor.

    The CP also said  that one Ntuariuwa a.k.a “change the world”, described as a notorious kidnapper on police wanted list, was also “fatally” wounded and killed in a separate shootout with the police, bringing the number of killed alleged kidnappers to six.

    In another development, the command also arrested 20 suspected criminals in connection with various offences.

    According the commissioner, 12 of the suspects were arrested in connection with alleged cult activities, four for alleged kidnapping and another four for alleged robbery.

    Read Also: Rivers family launches foundation to honour late Dad

    He said the command foiled two robbery attempts, recovered three AK47 assault rifles and five locally made pistols.

    Others included three pump action guns, eight machetes, five magazines, 60 ammunition and 40 cartridges.

    The CP said the feat was recorded in May, adding that the command would make Rivers uncomfortable for criminals.

  • ‘No anointed rival leader in Ladipo market’

    The Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Chief (Mrs) Folasade Tinubu-Ojo has described as untrue the alleged appointment of a rival Babaloja (chief male marker leader) at the  Ladipo auto parts market,Lagos.

    Her clarification followed the alarm raised by two groups, the Lagos State Auto-Parts Dealers Association, (LASAPDA), Mushin zone and Concern Citizens and Stakeholders of Papa Ajao/Ladipo Community that a trader in the market was parading himself as Babaloja of the market.

    In the petition dated April 24 2019, and forwarded to the Lagos State House of Assembly and Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, the groups noted that the Babaloja of Ladipo market, Alhaji Oladotun Abibu-Oki, who was installed by the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji(MFR) on December 22, 2011,     was being unnecessarily harassed and intimidated by a rival association established by non-indigenes.

    The petitioners said Alhaji Abibu-Oki had not been able to function well since his installation about eight years ago, due to the negative activities of members of a rival body led by one Monday.

    Speaking with newsmen yesterday at Alausa, Ikeja, Chief Tinubu-Ojo said that no rival Babloja was installed at the market.

    She noted that the person being touted as rival leader of the market was only appointed to oversee a section of the market.

    She added that the matter would soon receive properly attention with a view to engendering peace in the market.

  • Police foil cult initiation of 10 suspected Bida Polytechnic students

    The police in Niger State have arrested ten suspected cult members, who are students The Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, during their initiation.

    The initiation, which took place at Gudugbagba village along Mountain Doko Road in Lavun Local Government Area of the state before it was foiled by the operatives of the state’s police command at about 2.40 pm.

    It was said that the suspects who were aged between 18 years to 30 confessed to taking part in the initiation carried out by the Neo-Black Axe Movement of Africa.

    Police spokesman, Muhammad Abubakar, in a statement made available to reporters in Minna said police operatives and the polytechnic’s security men were able to foil the initiation ceremony following a tip-off by vigilant students.

    “It was reported that the suspects were said to have gathered and initiated 15 new members of their cult called Neo-Black Axe Movement of Africa.”

    Read Also: Kano Police intercept 303 cartons of Tramadol worth N2bn

    “During the special coordinated raid, which took place inside the bush in Gudugbagba village in Lavun, these suspects were arrested.”

    Abubakar disclosed that the suspects had confessed to being involved in cult activities and are currently helping police operatives in their investigations relating to other members of the cult group and its activities.

    He noted that there is an ongoing  war against cultism and other vices among the youths in the state as the command had zero tolerance for anyone caught in the act.

    The police spokesman added that operatives recovered one axe, one charm, ten phones, two necklaces, two key holders, one identity card, two phone chargers, six keys, two jeans trousers, one spectacle, three t-shirts, seven ATM cards, one flash drive, three wrist watches, two voters cards and three rings suspected to be charm from the suspects.

    He said that the matter would be charged to court after investigations.

  • Day-old baby dumped in Ogun river

    Residents of Ijaiye in Abeokuta, Ogun State were shocked last Wednesday, when the body of a day-old- baby was seen floating on a stream in the community.

    The baby was allegedly dumped in the stream  by   a woman suspected to be its mother a few hours after delivery  near a popular market in the area.

    A passer-by had spotted the baby floating on the river and raised the alarm that attracted residents to the scene near a white garment church.

    Sympathisers were said to have made futile attempts to evacuate the body from the river.

    The stick used to draw the body to the shore only succeeded in pushing  it further inside the river.

    A resident identified as Ajiun said: ‘’We were shocked to discover the body of the baby floating on the river. It was a day old baby as revealed by his curly hair and umbilical cord which was still intact.

    ‘’It is sad that a child which is a divine gift from God could be so treated by a heartless mother this way. Such woman deserves curses and that was what residents did; we cursed mother of the baby.’’

  • 4 persons killed, 10 buildings destroyed in suspected cult clash in Edo

    Four persons were killed and 10 buildings destroyed in a suspected cult clash at Afokeplla in the Etsako-East Local Government Area of Edo State  last Monday

    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the area on Friday reported that residents of the community are living in fear following the attack and reprisal attack by members of the cult groups.

    It quoted a resident of the community, Mr. Ahmed Seidu, as saying the crisis “escalated when one of the leaders of one of the cult groups was shot dead, resulting in a show of force by the rival groups.

    “Since Monday, we have been living in fear, hoping that the situation will be brought under control by the security agencies.”

    The Chairman of the council, Mr Aremiyau Momoh, who visited the community, confirmed that 10 buildings were set ablaze in the attack on the community.

    Momoh said the council had imposed a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. in the community, until the situation was brought under control.

    “The cult crisis which started on Monday has led to the killing of four persons and the destruction of 10 buildings in the community.