56 suspected cultists arrested with human skulls in Cross River

Fifty - six suspected cultists have been arrested with human skulls in Calabar and Ogoja , Cross River State .

Fifty - one suspects , who were intercepted at the 8 Miles area of Calabar on their way to Akwa Ibom State , were paraded on Wednesday by the Cross River State Commissioner of Police, Abdulkadir Jimoh .

According to him , the suspects , comprising 46 males and five females , were arrested with three human skulls on Monday, August 17 , 2020 .

Jimoh said , “ On Monday, I got information that suspected cultists were driving dangerously , hoisting the black and red flags , and disturbing the peace on the Goodluck Jonathan Road , and driving towards 8 Miles . They were seriously pursued and intercepted at 8 Miles .

“ When they were arrested and brought to the headquarters , there were 51 of them . Forty - six are males and five are females . The suspects confessed to be cultists from the Akpabuyo Local Government Area and were on their way to Akwa Ibom State . And when they were searched , three fresh human skulls were recovered from their masquerade regalia.

“ Two Hiace buses with number plates KAM 541 XA and XA 668 UGB , two motorcycles , five machetes , and three red flags with human skulls drawn on them were recovered from the suspects . They all confessed to be members of the Nnabor Confraternity and they are the people responsible for the series of kidnapping and other vices in the Akpabuyo Local Government Area , and by extension , some parts of Calabar municipality .

“ The command will undertake a forensic analysis of the skulls to determine whether they belong to some of these people that have been declared missing or some of the victims they killed . The suspects have been profiled and they will face the full wrath of the law . ”

One of the suspects , Mike Asuquo, described the items recovered from them as part masquerade regalia.

“ I was born to see the regalia from our great - grandparents. I don’ t know anything about the human skulls . We took this masquerade regalia from our community town hall . We rented it from the owner . The masquerade is a tradition of the Efik. We went for a burial at Obot Akara in Akwa Ibom State , ” he stated .

The four suspected members of the Vikings Confraternity were arrested on Sunday and were identified as Peter Henry, Thomas Etta , Ekpo Felix and Ndifreke Obot.

In a related development , five suspected cultists were arrested with a human skull by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Cross River State .

The state Commandant , NSCDC , Mr Danjuma Elisha , while parading the suspects on Wednesday in Calabar, said they were nabbed on Tuesday in the Ogoja Local Government Area of the state .

According to him , the suspects were arrested following a tip - off that suspected cultists from rival groups had a confrontation.

He stated , “ On August 18 , 2020 , our attention was drawn to a cult confrontation at No . 50 Mission Road , Igoli, Ogoja .

“ Upon arrival at the scene , our men found a human skull and other bones believed to be human bones . The team decided to swiftly pick the items and the persons found within the vicinity for scrutiny .

“ Ten persons were picked up and after interrogation , five were identified as having questions to answer in relation to the items found . ”

He identified the suspects as Ejesi Akwa , Ugbem Oloko, Francis Ogbeche , Thomas Ajaba and Gabriel Ogbeche , adding that they would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution .

One of the suspects , Akwa , said they had a confrontation with some cultists , who came to attack them in the compound and in the process , the NSCDC officials found the human skull in their compound .

One Patience Effiong - Udo, 26 , was also paraded by the commandant for allegedly trying to sell her nine - year - old daughter at the Bogobiri area of Calabar, while looking for a buyer .

Narrating what led to her arrest, Effiong -Udo said it was when she complained to a prophetess at a church in the Itu - Okon area of Calabar that she had no food to eat that she encouraged her to sell her child , whom she described as a witch .