By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
Operatives of Force Intelligence Response Team (FIRT) have arrested five suspected cultists who were alleged to have killed a 22-year-old man, Ifidon Victor Akhigbe on January 17, 2022 over a N3000 debt.
The suspects identified as Josaiah Okon, Lucky Alabi, Anthony Aigbodion, Victor Aigbodion and Aikhonrin Godwin, who are all members of Vikings Confraternity, trailed the victim to the hospital in Edo State where they ensured that he was dead before dispersing to their various homes.
Devastated, his elder brother Sunday who is based in Abuja reported the incident to the Inspector General of Police who assigned the case to the FIRT for further investigation and possible arrest of the suspects. Luckily five of them were arrested and they told the police that it was an aftermath of the fight caused by one Sylvester that led to the death of the deceased.
Confirming the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said efforts were still on to arrest the remaining suspects who are currently on the run.
The debt
Recounting how it all began, 23-year-old Josaiah Okon who hails from Rivers State told Saturday Sun that it was his quest to recover N3000 debt from the deceased that caused the problem.
“I am an artisan and I specialised in constructing interlock and blocks for building. I was born and raised in Owan West, in Edo State but when our cult members kept disturbing me, I decided to relocate to Benin. Sometime last year, I came back to see my mother and met Sylvester who I see as my boy on the streets. He is a commercial Okada rider and I met him trekking. He told me that his Okada had issues and pleaded that I should lend N3000 to assist him to repair the Okada. I agreed but told him that he would pay me back with interest.
“He accepted the deal and I gave him N3000 with an agreement that he would return N4000. For the next six months he did not make any effort to contact me or send the money to me through another source. I kept quiet till I came to the village again after my mother died. I met him and he claimed that he had no cash and asked me to hold his MP3 Bluetooth speaker.
“In the evening, he brought N1000 and asked me to return the MP3 but I refused. I told him to go and complete the money and he got angry and threatened to deal with me. I thought it was joke till they attacked us,” he narrated.
According to Okon, at about midnight same day, Slyvester and three others barged into his house through the back door and started beating every one up asking for the MP3. “Initially, I hid behind the door when I heard the noise but when the beating became too much, I came out and handed over the MP3 to him. I was bitter and my friend Alabi who owns the house where I was sleeping that night was also bitter. We are all members of Vikings Confraternity and we should learn to respect each other.
“We decided to go and meet them, not knowing that they were on their way back to challenge us again. Luckily, we were prepared with our machetes and it was easy to fight them. Victor, the one that later died was given a big cut on the hand and he ran to the hospital. We were still not satisfied because Sylvester, the one who started the problem was not hurt.
“We mobilized again and went back to the hospital. Our target was to make sure that Sylvester was also wounded but when we got there, we saw Victor alone lying on the floor still bleeding. I had to convince them to leave him alone as he was close to death. Two days later, we got information that he died. We had no choice but to flee to different places. Unfortunately, the police found us four months later.”
On how he ended up as a cultist, Okon claimed that he was initiated while in secondary school. “It was my senior in school called Mopol that lured me into their trap. He was my school father and he invited me for a party at night. Few hours into the party, the lights were switched off and they started beating few of us. They forced us to drink one mixture and smoke. I was sad and reported him to my mother who called policemen to arrest him. This was how he was suspended from school. Due to cult activities, I was later suspended. Even if you are in school, they will wait for you in the streets and make life miserable for you. I was forced to be paying N1500 every Sunday or they will attack me. It was when I became fed up that I decided to relocate to Benin.
“Despite all my effort to stay away from trouble, I am now accused of murder. I never wished that he will die; we only went to the hospital to look for Sylvester who is the main cause of the fight. I am so sorry and wish the police should understand that the fight was in self-defence,” he pleaded.
The second suspect, Alabi who rented the house where the incident happened told Saturday Sun that he was offended because Sylvester and others broke down his door over an issue that does not concern him.
He said: “I live in Avbiosi community in Owan West in Edo State and Josaiah who is my friend decided to spend the night in my house. I was shocked when they broke into my house and started beating everybody requesting for an MP3 player.
I was so angry because it is an insult that Sylvester who is a younger person in our cult group will come to my house to fight. After the fight, we decided to confirm that Sylvester was really wounded only to see Victor on the ground bleeding. Nobody was attending to him, so we decided not to beat him again.
“It was not our plan to kill him but he died. In our area, if you do not belong to any cult group, they will make life very hard for you, that was the reason why I joined them.”
The third suspect, Anthony who claimed to be a tailor, lamented that it was his love for his junior brother that landed him in trouble.
His words: “I ran away from the village because of cultism and I swore that I will never have anything to do with them. Unfortunately, I came to see my mother after three years. I had gone earlier to greet Alabi, so he was aware that I was in town. Initially, I tried my best not to join them but when I learnt that my younger brother was given a cut by Sylvester, I got mad. I ran to Alabi house and he gave me a machete.
“I was the one who gave Victor the cut that landed him in the hospital. I was bitter that they dared to touch my brother, I was not thinking very well. He is my only brother and I promised my mother that I would protect him. I am so ashamed that instead of protecting him, we are now in police cell accused of murder.”
The police spokesman, Adejobi, said the suspects would be charged to court when investigation was completed.