Cultists Kill 3 Pregnant Women, Native Doctor, 8 Others

No less than 12 persons, including three pregnant women, a native doctor and eight others, have lost their lives in the wake of the renewed activities of men believed to be cultists in Agbor and Boji-boji Owa communities of Delta State.

In recent weeks, residents had moved about freely, thinking that calm had finally returned to their communities, only for the men to strike in the early hours of yesterday.

It was reliably gathered that the killings have heightened fear and tension in the communities, as lorry loads of armed policemen and other security agents have swarmed both communities.

Residents who spoke to LEADERSHIP Friday disclosed that the attacks were part of a supremacy war between various cult groups who have laid siege on the communities in the last three years. According to these residents, the cultists shoot sporadically into the air on some nights; scaring residents of the areas and, in most cases, allegedly rape unsuspecting young ladies.

Among those killed by the cultists was a native doctor who, according to them, leased his shrine to a rival cult group and also prepared charms for them on many occasions.

Since the cult war escalated in December 2014, over 26 persons have lost their lives.

Meanwhile, the residents of the area have called on the state government and the Joint Task Force not to fold their hands and watch the situation degenerate further.

An octogenarian, Alice Igbenoba, who claimed that two of her children were killed by cultists said: “I want the state government to come to our aid. We are tired of these killings, especially at night, when they begin to shoot guns and, sometimes, kill innocent persons”.

Sources who preferred not to be named fingered the Ake and Eiye confraternities, who recruited teenage boys into their ranks and armed them with sophisticated weapons, as the cults who made their lives unbearable.

The public relations officer of the state police command, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the activities of the cult groups, said that over 26 suspected members have been arrested, adding that the police have stepped up security measures with random arrests of people within the town.