•Cultists
Benue State Police Command has raised the alarm about the killing of elderly over alleged witchcraft by some youths in the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Hassan Yabaner, who reeled out the achievements of the command in 2024 in a statement issued in Makurdi today pointed out that cultism and killing of elderly people for alleged witchcraft topped the criminal activities in the state in the past one year, reports The PUNCH.
Giving the breakdown of the number of criminal records in the state between April 2024 till date, Yabaner said that 273 suspects were arrested in connection with capital offences, 20 firearms were recovered, 51
ammunitions also recovered. He added that 250 of the suspects have been charged in court.
He said, “One of the major challenges bedevilling the state is the issue of cultism which the command has been fighting till this moment.
“While some suspects have been charged to court, we have a total number of seven (7) suspected cultists in custody arrested in the North Bank, Daudu and Otukpo area.
“They include Donald Aguma ‘m’ of Daudu, Tyoshar Aondoaseer ‘m’ of Daudu, Tsena Joseph ‘m’ of Daudu, and Benjamin Andrew Augustine of Otukpo. Garba Yusuf AKA Totis, Ismail Dauda and Abdulahi Danjuma all ‘m’ of Wadata Makurdi were also arrested and one locally fabricated pistol was recovered.
“Another worrisome situation in the state is the case of people taking laws into their own hands, particularly young people killing the elderly for alleged cases of witchcraft.”
He cited the killing of an aged woman killed on Christmas Eve over allegations of witchcraft in Egba village, Agatu Local Government Area of the state.
He said, “On 24/12/2024 at about 1900hrs, information was received that an aged woman was killed over an allegation of witchcraft in Egba village, Agatu LGA. During the investigation, one Bako Above ‘m’ 50yrs and Oyaje Clement ‘m’ 40yrs were arrested in connection to the case.
The CP commended the state governor, Hyacinth Alia for his support and the Inspector General of Police, IGP. Kayode Egbetokub, PhD NPM for being a pillar of the command.
