Cult Killings: End This Madness in 48 Hours, Okpebholo Gives Marching Order to Police

As the Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, continued to take tough decisions and actions in the first week of his administration, the state Police Commissioner was on Thursday, given a marching order to halt violent cult clashes in the state, which the immediate past governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, lamented sometime in June, had claimed over 150 lives between January and May 2024. The killings had continued even more ferociously since then as rival cult groups eliminate one another.
Recall that only on Monday November 11, in yet another cult-related killing, the son of the Seriki Hausa, simply identified as Danladi, was shot dead in Benin City by unknown gun men suspected to be cultists.
A statement by the chief press secretary to the governor, Fred Itua, said the governor has directed the state Commissioner of Police to instruct his officers and men across the various formations to immediately swing into action and halt the unnecessary bloodbath.
The statement said Governor Okpebholo has also banned Drivers Welfare Association and Network Empowerment in the state.
On Wednesday, the governor ordered the immediate and indefinite suspension of collection of all revenues in Edo, especially in motor parks and other places until further notice, stating that he would review the issues surrounding the collections soon and decide on the way forward.
Part of the statement read:
“As the Governor of Edo State, cultism cannot be allowed here. We must end it and very fast too. I have ordered the Commissioner of Police to halt the madness within 48 hours. All those involved in the killings should be stopped.
“Some associations that are causing trouble in the state, especially in Benin City, cannot be allowed to operate here. They all remain banned, and the Commissioner of Police must ensure that his men carry out this instruction by giving teeth to this ban.
“Edo must be safe. That was one of my key priorities during the campaigns, and I plan to ensure that we restore it at all costs. We will not fold our arms and allow them to create unnecessary tension”.