Benin City/Cult War   

Like demons from the depth of hell, two rival groups, the Aiye and Black Axe confraternities, clashed recently  in Benin, the Edo State capital, causing mayhem and leaving corpses in their wake.

Across Nigeria gathered that the battle was a spill-over from College of Education, Ekiadolor, near Benin City, where cult rivalry claimed two lives recently.
Police sources confirmed eight casualities and six persons on danger list at different hospitals in Benin city. Ogida and Uselu quarters were the worst hit, recording seven deaths within six hours.

Witnesses said the blood-thirsty armed youths were so wild that they violently pursued their victims, pumping bullets into them. It was further revealed that they pursued some of the victims to their family houses, killing some even in the presence of their parents. The cult fight continued into the night.

The serial killings forced men of Ogida Police Station to hire vehicles to evacuate corpses of victims that littered the area.  The dust had not settled down when Erokpadamwen Asemota and others were shot dead the next morning at Uselu quarters. Bewildered residents who could no longer endure the war appealed to security agencies and other relevant bodies to intervene, as lives and economic activities had been endangered in the area.

The hitmen and their victims are said to be in their twenties and some were alleged to be students, espescially of College of Education, Ekiadolor.

However, spokesman of Edo State Police command, ASP Peter Ogboi, stated that they intervened in good time to arrest the situation. A similar bloody cult war between Black Axe and Maphite Confraternity reportedly claimed over 15 lives last March in Benin city.

Reported by Yomi Obaditan.

Tags:  Benin, Black Axe, College of Education, Cult war, Edo State, Ekiadolor., Maphite Confraternity