Ihiala community, which has boundary with Imo State, has banished 11 persons described as the masterminds of cult-related killings and kidnappings in the area.
It is part of efforts to restore security and combat crime and criminality in the town.
The community has been battling insecurity in the past few years, such that many residents of the urban town have fled and relocated to safe neighbouring communities.
In the past few years, there had been random kidnappings and killings by hoodlums known as unknown gunmen and cultists, thereby injecting fear in the residents.
However, the leadership of the community said it has traced the recent spate of insecurity in the area to mostly cultism and cult-related activities.
In a concerted bid to bring the menace to an end in Ihiala and environs, the leadership has taken concrete steps to see that cultism became a thing of the past in the area, as well as stamp out crime and criminality.
President-General of Ihiala Progress Union, IPU, Barrister Okey Leo Ohagba, in a statement, listed some of the people he described as the masterminds of the recent cult-related killings and kidnappings in the community, adding that those persons have been banned for life from setting foot on the community. He said the names of the eleven persons on the list were arrived at after diligent and unimpeachable intelligence identified them as architects of the cult-related crisis in the community and environs.
According to the statement, after these persons were identified, they refused to make themselves available to security agencies within a period of 48 hours given to them to clear their names and discharge the allegations made against them and another 72 hours grace period given by the community for public renunciation of cultism by repentant cultists.
Ohagba said the names and photographs of the identified suspected criminals shall be displayed in various social media platforms and giant billboards to be erected at strategic locations within and around Ihiala for ease of identification.
He advised the parents, guardians or relatives of the cultists that it is in their own interest to provide useful information on the whereabouts of the listed persons to facilitate their apprehension by law enforcement agencies, so as to avoid dire consequences of complicity.
“Any person resident in Ihiala, whether indigene or not, who harbours or seen to be associating with the aforementioned criminals and their cohorts within Ihiala town and environs hereafter, shall be treated as an accomplice by the law enforcement agencies and shall be made to suffer the same consequences/punishment meted out on the criminals.
“It is pertinent to remind the good people of Ihiala Town that in line with the subsisting Anambra State government proscription order on cultism and cult related activities, and in synergy with relevant law enforcement agencies, cultism and cult related activities remains proscribed and banned in Ihiala town,” the statement read.
It will be recalled that shortly after the statement was released, security operatives arrested one Onyebuchi Igboanusi a.k.a. “H.I.T” from Alatiampom, Ihiala and another person, one Chukwuka Okoye (Ejemba) alias “Scorpion” from Umuizuogu Ndiezike Ihiala was also arrested.
According to the President General, these persons are suspected to be the major masterminds of the mindless killings and kidnappings recorded recently in Ihiala and environs.
He said that the suspected cultists were on the list of eleven persons earlier declared persona non grata and banished from the community.
“The arrest of these suspected hoodlums by security operatives signals a major breakthrough in the collective quest by the people of Ihiala to frontally combat crime and criminality in the community and environs”, the statement further said. Recall that on Monday, February 12th 2024, the Anambra State Police Command said it arrested two members of a deadly cult gang allegedly responsible for recent killings around communities in Okija, Ihiala and environs in the Ihiala Local government area. Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement said the arrest and capture happened in a special operation.
The PPRO said the operation was spearheaded by the Police Crack Squad deployed in Ihiala by the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Aderemi Adeoye.
Ikenga said the special operation was deployed by the CP to provide security for the people of Ihiala during and after the festive period, adding that two suspects were arrested at their hideout within the same locality in Okija.
He also identified one Chitana Oha, alias “Kill and Bury” and one Emmanuel Ifeanyi Okonkwo, alias “Good and Bad” as two persons who were arrested at their hideout at Okija.
Only recently during a meeting with Presidents General of the 179 communities and traditional rulers in Anambra State, Governor Chukwuma Soludo lamented that despite the humongous amounts of money his administration has been spending in Ihiala to ensure security, the area has continued to be a problem for the state.
