Cult war claims 2 lives in Benin‎

kill

A cultist killed with a stone

One of the cultists killed with a stone
One of the cultists killed with a stone
Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Two men, simply identified as Osazee and Papa Obodo, have been killed in a renewed cult war in Benin, Edo State, between two groups identified as the Eiye confraternity and the Black Axe Movement.‎

An unconfirmed report has it that a third victim was murdered last Sunday.

The first incident which occurred at Oyenmwonsa Street, located between 2nd and 3rd East Circular Roads, claimed the life of Papa Obodo.

Witnesses narrated that two men chased him from Nekpennekpen street, into a block industry in Oyenmwonsa, where they beat him before dragging him to the road, hit him repeatedly with planks and smashed his head with a huge stone, leaving him dead.

It was gathered that the wife of the victim who was said to be residing at Nekpenekpen street, was recently delivered of a baby and was discharged from the hospital last Sunday.

In the other incident, the victim, simply identified as Osazee, was also reportedly chased by a group of boys suspected to be cultists, around Osemwende street.

Another killed under the wheel of a car
Another killed under the wheel of a car

Witnesses said the deceased attempted to scale a fence to the other side of the road when his assailants caught him and shot him in the stomach. He was said to have died at the spot.

The dead bodies have since been deposited in the morgue by policemen from Esigie Division.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, who confirmed the incidents, said the killings were as a result of the cold war between cult groups in the state.

He explained that in June this year when a fight broke out between the cult groups, a member of one of the groups was shot dead, adding that Tuesday’s killings were in retaliation to the one that happened in June.

Ezike said the command is on top of the situation, disclosing that the command has made some arrests in connection with the killings.

He advised parents to always monitor their children to avoid being used in the cult war in the state.

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