ANTHONY IWUOMA
Following growing incidents of increasing cult-related violence in the society, a concerned Nigerian, Gabriel Iwarue, has canvassed death sentence for convicted cultists.
Iwarue, who relocated to Lagos from his Benin base, following encounter with cultists in 2010, is piqued that instead of abating, cult-related violence in Nigeria is on the rise.
According to Iwarue, who is also known as Papa Lucky, there was a cult-related case, involving one Cordelia Okoebor, who was declared wanted by the police and hunted by her family for befriending a cultist, simply called Eric, who was the head of a cult group, Black Axe. Eric’s group had clashed with another cult group, Eiye, resulting in the loss of some lives.
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“The Eiye group stormed our locality on a reprisal attack in search of Eric. They searched everywhere for him to no avail. Next day, they returned very early in the morning to look for Cordelia, his girlfriend. Luckily, she was not around but they met her father, Chief Benson Okoebor, who was an ex-soldier. The gang demanded that he must bring out Cordelia for them. However, the ex-soldier ordered them out of his compound. The group became infuriated for daring them and shot dead.”
The family, a polygamous one, accused Cordelia Okoebor of being a cultist and dating one of them, leading to the killing of their father and went after her head. Wanted by both her family, the Eiye group and the police, Cordelia managed to escape and has not been seen or heard of since then.”
Iwarue, who was so scared by the experience moved to Surulere, Lagos, and feels rattled by stories of cult clashes, wondering why government could not deploy security gadgets in this digital age and nip the crime in the bud.
Calling for capital punishment for cultists, Iwarue posited: “Cultists should not be treated with kid gloves any more if we want to rid our society of this menace. They have caused more harm in our society than we can imagine.
“Only recently,” he added, two people were stabbed to death and several others injured at the Itire area of Surulere, Lagos, when two rival cult gangs clashed. The clash lasted till next day before the police were able to take control. At least, seven people have been arrested in connection with the killings.”
He also disclosed how a three-man gang robbed a motorist at Adetola Street junction that leads to Pako Aguda in Suru-lere, on December 11.
According to him, the gang ordered occupant of the Honda Pilot SUV to a halt and directed the driver to park in front of a hotel close by, as people went about their businesses.
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“The only crime the victim committed was driving a fairly used car (Tokunbo). The gang collected N30,000 from him. He was lucky for leaving the venue unhurt. This is one crime too many.”
“Every crime perpetrated by more than one person is usually by a cult group. I am encouraging the security agencies to step up their fight against cultism,” he said.
Therefore, Iwarue demands harsher penalties for anyone involved in cultism, as he remembers his face-to-face encounter with cult group in his neighbourhood in 2010 in Edo State.
