5 suspected high school cultists killed by members during initiation ceremony

· 7 others arrested, scores injured in Anambra

 

Palpable tension, yesterday, gripped Obosi, a commu­nity in Idemili North lo­cal government area of Anam­bra State and Oko, after residents allegedly woke up to discover corpses of five strange young men in different locations of the two communities.

Members of the communities were, particularly, thrown into confusion as they did not hear any gunshot at night nor could immediately tell the identities of the corpses.

But as the day broke with events unfolding, snippets of information revealed that the strange corpses littering the com­munities were actually those of prospective high school student cultists who congregated in Obo­si for initiation of new members.

The purported initiation ceremony took place behind the community secondary school in Obosi in the wee hours.

A source who preferred an­onymity told The AUTHORITY on Saturday that the prospec­tive cultists were beaten to stu­por while assessing their fitness by those initiating them and died in the process.

It was not clear whether the beating was part of the test given to the prospective cultists for ad­mittance into the cult group.

Another source however told The AUTHORITY on Sat­urday that there was disagree­ment amongst the cultists which resulted in the beating and death of the quintet.

While what actually led to the death of the suspected stu­dents were hazy as at press time, The AUTHORITY on Saturday reports that feelers indicated that apart from the dead, scores of others sustained serious injuries.

Some of the injured were said to have visited health centres in the towns but had to flee upon discovery that policemen were after them.

Sources said yesterday that already, seven of the cultists were said to have been arrested in con­nection with the incident.

Reacting, the tradition­al ruler of Obosi, HRM Igwe Chidubem Iweka, said, “when it dawned on me that hard drugs like cocaine, heroin and others can be gotten in Obosi, I knew that cultists have taken over our community because those who indulge in it act based on the in­fluence of the hard drugs.

“I appeal to the security op­eratives to swing into action since the place is no more safe for us as a result of these cultists.

“I have just been told that three of the cultists from Obosi died at Oko in Aguata local gov­ernment where they ran to,” he revealed.

When contacted, the DPO in charge of Obosi Police station, Mr Ibrahim Musa confirmed that he got only a corpse and arrested seven adding that investigation is ongoing.

He expressed optimism that the fleeing suspected cultists some of who had fled their hos­pital beds would be arrested to face the wrath of the law.

The incident came to lime­light when the school securi­ty men informed the principal, Mrs Ada Efobi that a corpse was dumped close to the school gate when rain was falling in the night by unidentified persons who drove in a black jeep and that by the time they could come closer to know what was dumped, the vehicle sped off.

Mrs Efobi while confirming the allegation in a phone inter­view said: “I in turn alerted the community chief security man, Mr Arthur Ilongwo, who imme­diately informed the Obosi Divi­sional Police Officer (DPO), Mr Ibrahim Musa, who swung into action with the concerted efforts of the local vigilante group and the police.

“The corpse was deposited in a morgue and I paid N15,000 for the embalmment”.

It was gathered that seven cultists were arrested on a tip-off after the corpse was deposited in the morgue.

It was gathered that upon in­terrogation of the suspects, they revealed that the corpse was dumped by them and others now at large.

The suspects confirmed that one new member died on the spot during initiation and they dumped the corpse away from the initiation arena while another died later in the hospital where he was taken for medical attention.

The new members, some of whom allegedly came from Okoh and other communities for the initiation, were beaten to stupor resulting in the death of another three after initiation as pains that developed became unbearable.