…As Swali, Agudama, Akenfa, Other Communities Reject Cultism
BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command have intensified the clampdown on cult groups and cult-related violence, arresting more than 20 suspects across the state.
The operation, ordered by the Commissioner of Police, CP Ajao Saka Adewale, is targeting identified cult hotspots in Yenagoa and other parts of the state.
The affected areas include Swali, Akenfa, Down Yenagoa, Agudama and other communities identified as vulnerable to cult-related activities.
Our correspondent gathered that the intensified police operations and warnings to community leaders and youths had prompted some communities to openly disown cult groups.
Police sources said that operatives from various divisions, supported by tactical teams, had made several arrests and curtailed the activities of suspected cultists.
The sources said some notorious cultists had been arrested, while others identified as being involved in cult-related activities were being tracked.
However, the police operation in Onopa, Yenagoa, where a suspected cultist was shot during a raid, has sparked protests by some indigenes.
The protesters accused some operatives of indiscriminate arrests and alleged that the suspect was targeted based on information linking him to the Vikings cult group and illicit drug sales.
They also alleged that the police officer involved in the shooting and the informant were members of a rival cult group, known as Bobos.
The protesters called on Adewale to investigate the allegations and scrutinise the activities of personnel attached to the anti-cultism operation.
The suspect, who was allegedly operating as a POS agent while also selling illicit drugs, was shot during the police raid on Tuesday.
Police authorities, however, said the young man was receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, and was not dead as earlier rumoured.
It would be recalled that no fewer than five persons were feared killed at the weekend during renewed cult clashes in Yenagoa.
The clashes, which reportedly began on Friday between rival cult groups known as Bobos and Greenlanders, resulted in killings in Agudama, Obele and the Back of St. Peters areas of the state capital.
Sources said the renewed violence had disrupted the peace agreement previously secured among some cult groups by the former leadership of the command.
Following the development, Adewale directed personnel to intensify operations against cultism and cult-related violence across the state.
The CP ordered Divisional Police Officers and tactical commanders to increase patrols in vulnerable areas and identify emerging security threats.
He also directed them to act promptly on credible intelligence concerning planned clashes, initiation ceremonies and recruitment activities.
Adewale warned that no individual or group involved in cultism would be treated as a sacred cow, urging residents to provide useful informa
tion to the police.
Jude Ossai (JP) a veteran journalist is a National Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. He also studied at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri for his first and second degrees in Mass Communication, respectively.
He writes extensively on politics, crime, corruption, climate change, healthcare, human rights, social justice, among others.
He began his journalism career in The Republic Newspaper, Lagos in 1987 as a Special Correspondent in Benin City, Edo State.
In 1990, he was posted from Lagos to old Anambra State as a State Correspondent in Enugu.
In 1994, he joined the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Ibadan, Oyo State, Publisher of Nigerian Tribune Newspapers where he rose to the rank of Southeast Bureau Chief.
Retiring from the mainstream traditional media in 2019, he began another journey in online newspaper publication.
He was the Overall Best Reporter in 2015, an award bestowed on him by Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State.
He has attended several workshops/seminars organised by multi-nationals, government institutions, local and international media including BBC.
He is also a unionist and had held top positions as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists of Enugu Correspondents’ Chapel and State Council of NUJ, respectively. He was also a one-time Enugu State Secretary of Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
