The Edo State Police Command has arraigned 19 individuals to court over their alleged involvement in cult-related activities in the state.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, Moses Yamu, in a statement, said 28 suspected were earlier arrested on Wednesday June 4th, 2025, during raids of criminal hideouts in the state.
Yamu stated that 19 of the arrested persons were found culpable after screening and were subsequently charged to court.
“The Edo State Command has sustained its fight against crime through visibility policing, community engagements and sustained raids of criminal hideouts in the State.
“On 4/6/2025 between 16:00 hours and 22:00 hours, operatives of the Command carried out raids of criminal hideouts within Benin-City.
“During the raids, twenty-eight (28) persons were arrested and professionally screened where nineteen (19) of them found implicated, were charged to court.
“In continuation of its fight against cultism, the command has commenced the house-to-house arrests of identified cult members in the state to ensure that cultism is either eliminated or brought to its barest minimum,” he said.
The police spokesperson disclosed that three suspects of the arrested persons have confessed to being members of the Eiye and Aye confraternities respectively.
He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Monday Agbonika expressed has warned all cult members to either denounce cultism, turn a new leaf or relocate from the state or face the full wrath of the law as contained in the Edo State Secret Cult and other related activities prohibition law
