SUSTAINING WAR AGAINST CULTISM IN IMO

The reported killing, on Thursday, October 5, 2017, of the two most wanted cult leaders and kidnappers in Imo State, Tochukwu Egbelu, aka black face, and Enyia Iwu, aka Sparrow, by operatives deployed by the state police command to the Assa, Obile and Awarra communities of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area brought unspeakable joy and much needed relief to the traumatised villagers who have been under a siege for years now.

According to reports in the media on Friday, October 6, the two suspected criminals, “leaders of the Iceland cult, which had been credited with the killing of over 20 people and the destruction of over 30 houses”, were killed during a shootout in the Nwagbakobi forest in Assa community.

The state police commissioner, Chris Ezike, deserves all the accolades because his determination to stamp out crime and criminality in the state has been yielding huge dividends in our communities.

Following the success recorded so far in the fight against cultism, violent crimes and banditry in Assa, Obile and Awarra by the police personnel, civil life is gradu- ally returning to our communities that were hitherto deserted following an orgy of killings and destruction of property by rival cult groups that held the communities hostage for years. Markets, schools and churches that were closed for a long time are being reopened.

However, CP Ezike and his men should not rest on their oars until all the suspected criminals arrested so far by the various security agencies, according to media reports, in connection with cult activities in the area are properly investigated and made to face the full weight of the law so as to serve as a deterrent to other deviant elements in the communities. In particular, the 35 suspected kidnappers, cultists and criminals handed over to them by the operatives of the Operation Python Dance Two on Wednesday, October 11, should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted where found culpable.

Besides, the police should not succumb to pressure of any kind or campaign of calumny from any quarters but should take the fight to its logical conclusion. We cannot afford another round of the heinous reign of cultists in our communities.