Ben Dunno, Warri

No fewer than 16 members of different cult groups have been killed and scores others injured in the last one week in the ongoing cult war in major cities and towns, especially in the remote settlements in Delta State.

Investigations carried out by Daily Sun revealed that towns mostly affected are; Udu, Enerhen, Sapele, Ughelli, Ozoro and Oghara where incidences of cultism were recorded on daily basis.

In Udu Local Government Area where cultism was reported to have reached its climax, rival cult members are said to be on the trail of one another to various drinking bars and joints perceived to be home base of their opponent to unleash terror on both members and innocent indigenes of the area.

Sources close to the Udu Council of Elders who spoke with Our Correspondent under anonymity, disclosed that within the last two weeks about nine (9) persons had been killed in series of attacks and reprisal between two rival cults in the area.

It was gathered that some major hotels in Udu area now play host to these cult groups and its from these hotels that the members plot their next strike on their opponent and other counter attacks that had claimed many lives and several others injured.

A joint police sting operations coordinated from the office of the Area Commander and led by Divisional Police Officer (DPO), B Division, Okumagba Avenue, CSP Anietie Eyoh, saw the arrest of over 36 cult members during the raid of Victory View Hotel and Freenice Hotel along the DSC expressway during a raid carried out last weekend.

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Another raid to the Enerhen community by the same police special task force also witness the arrest of over 15 cult members in a raid of some notorious hideouts where the various cult groups converged regularly.

Reacting to the police raid of cultists hideout, President General of the Udu communities, Chief Matthew Ukpara, commended the police for its prompt response to the distress call by the community on the activities of cultists in the area, stating that with this intervention the area had remained calm.

According to him, “On behalf of the Udu people, I want to sincerely thank the Delta Commissioner of Police and the Warri Area Commander as well as other security agents for their swift respond to our distress call when cultist activities was getting out of hand in our community. We particularly appreciate the effort of the B Division DPO, CSP Anietie Eyoh who led the team for a job well done”.

Confirming the incidences of cultism, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Andrew Aniamaka, stated that the recent invasion of hotels and other hide out of cultists and other criminals was carried out based on intelligent report made available to the police.

All the arrested suspects have since been transferred to the state police headquarters in Asaba for further investigations and prosecution.