The police in Benue State have paraded nine suspects for alleged involvement in cultism and armed robbery related activities.
The Commissioner of Police, Omololu Bishi, who paraded the suspects at the command headquarters in Makurdi, said the feat was achieved following the deployment of more patrol teams within the state to prevent criminals from perpetrating crime.
He said the suspects were arrested from various locations across the state with some of them engaging in armed robbery activities in addition to cultism.
“On February 10, this year, the ‘B’ Division patrol team while on routine patrol and based on intelligence gathered, arrested one Victor Egbodo and Udoh Emmanuel, both males of Kanshio in Makurdi, with one axe and a knife at a black spot behind Kids Authority in new Kanshio layout of Makurdi.
“During investigation, suspects confessed being members of System Black Movement (SBM) Confraternity. Suspects will soon be charged to court,” he said.
Bishi listed four other suspects as; Justice Agada, 25; Emmanuel Patrick, 21; Emmanuel Atoju, 19 and Stanley Ugochukwu, 20; all males of different addresses in Makurdi.
The police commissioner explained that the four suspects were arrested by his men on patrol in their hideouts along Onitsha Street in Wurukum area of Makurdi metropolis and that two locally fabricated pistols, two live cartridges, one knife and seven wraps of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered from them.
He added that preliminary investigation showed that the suspects belonged to various cult groups and were responsible for robbing members of the public of their money, phones handbags and other valuables.
Bishi further identified the remaining three suspects as, Johnson Ekoja, Emmanuel Ogiri and Anthony Ojela, as cultists who combined their offences with armed robbery in the Otukpo area of the state.
The CP said the trio was arrested in connection with a robbery incident that took place at No. 24, Jokpama Street in Otukpo where they robbed their victim of N275,000, one iPad and a Samsung phone.
He said the suspects’ victim was still lying in critical condition at the hospital. He further listed items recovered from the suspects to include, two locally made pistols, one cartridge, one live ammunition, knife and two phones belonging to their victims, adding that they would soon be charged to court.
