A 14-year-old girl, Chidinma Iheoma, and five others suspected to be
cult members have been arrested for allegedly beheading a man, Oguegbu
Ofurum, for ritual purposes.
Iheoma and the others – Lekwuwa Ogbuji, Ikechukwu Amaechi, and
Clement Onyema – were arrested by operatives of the Imo State Police
Command.
They were arrested while taking the severed head to a shrine at Assa community, Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.
Police Public Relations officer in the state, Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the development in a statement on Sunday.
He disclosed that the suspects are members of the dreaded Deegbam cult in Ohaji/Egbema LGA of the state.
Enwerem said investigation revealed that the suspects killed the victim on September 8.
He said: “The suspects are members of the dreaded Deegbam cult in the
Ohaji/Egbema LGA and were arrested on September 26 by the operatives of
the command in connection with the murder of one Oguegbu Ofurum.
“Investigation revealed that on September 8, while the suspects were
carrying out their initiation, the victim was returning from the market
and ran into them.
“The suspects seized the victim, took him into the bush and killed him. Investigation is ongoing.”
The suspects, according to Enwerem, have made “useful statements”,
adding that Ezike had taken the war against cultism in the state to
tertiary institutions and villages.
He said: “The CP, Chris Ezike, has energised the anti-cult unit of the state police command for effective delivery.
“The CP has deployed specially trained operatives to institutions and
communities, where there are upsurge in crime-related activities,
especially cultism, with the mandate that such groups should be dealt
with.
“The CP is partnering faith-based organisations, the media and
community leaders to make sure that cultism and all forms of criminality
are wiped out of the state.”
