Police arrest two cult leaders during initiation

Operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have arrested two suspected leaders of the Black Axe Confraternity during an initiation ceremony in Uyo, the state capital.

The arrests followed a coordinated intelligence-led operation carried out by the Command’s anti-cultism unit.

Speaking at the Command headquarters in Ikot Akpanabia on Monday, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Timfon John, said the suspects were apprehended on Sunday at about 4:30 p.m. after credible intelligence revealed that a group of suspected cult members were conducting initiation activities at a secondary school along Oron Road.

According to her, the suspects fled when they sighted the police patrol team, abandoning a red mini-bus with registration number NYA-164XA. Officers pursued them and successfully arrested two individuals identified as Anietie Isaac and Unyime Effiong.

Items recovered at the scene included an axe, a brown calabash, a bottle of alcoholic drink, incense materials, coloured handkerchiefs and a sticker linked to the Neo Black Axe, also known as the Neo Lord’s Movement of Africa.

DSP John said the suspects and the recovered items are in police custody while investigations continue.

She added that the Commissioner of Police, CP Baba Azare, has reaffirmed the Command’s zero tolerance for cultism and other criminal activities, assuring residents that efforts to clamp down on such groups will be sustained.

The police also urged members of the public to provide timely and credible information to support ongoing security operations.