By ABAH SUNDAY ADAH, Abuja
A civil society organisation known as Ede-ma in the district of Edumoga in Okpokwu Local Government Area (LGA) in Benue South Senatorial District of Benue State has thrown its weight behind the recent actions of youths of the township that brought the surging cult activities in the area to a halt.
The group in a statement signed by its national president, Mr Michael Agbam, and made available to the SUMMIT POST NEWS at the weekend, therefore condemned the eventual arrest of the youth leader, Agboji John Audu, at the instance of the cultists, urging his immediate unconditional release.
Commending the youths for the initiative while calling on the royal fathers and all well meaning sons and daughters of the land to support the initiative, Ede-ma explained that it exercise some restraint and refused to comment since the youth-led anti-cultism revolution began in order to have the proper understanding of the development to enable it toe the path of truth and justice.
“We had restrained ourselves from making any public comment on the recent unfortunate cult violence that had cocked and literally grounded Ugbokolo town and surrounding communities of Amejo and Okonobo wards in Edumoga District of Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.
In this unwholesome cult rivalry, at least 10 youths were reported to have been brutally murdered while commercial activities in the axis were brought to a halt, especially in Ugbokolo, Effoyo and 0chakwu, which remain the major economic hubs in Edumoga District.
Our calm resolve not to immediately speak out was informed by the logic that doing so might be too pre-emptive without proper understanding of the underlying issues surrounding the violence, ‘ and of course, it could also be mistaken for outright bias.
Secondly, we had also expected that the security agencies, especially the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, are fully on ground and therefore ought to have quickly responded to such open criminality to restore public order and confidence.
“This was however not the case in view of the litany of violence in which cult groups openly chase and hack perceived rivals to death in broad day light. We believe that the vacuum created by police inaction may have inspired protests that ultimately degenerated to mob actions by angry residents following the cult killings, which the Edumoga Youth Association (EYA) and Edumoga Youth Movement (EYM) eventually bad to intercede and moderate to restore order,” the group noted.
Ede-ma equally approved of the oath-taking exercise introduced by EYA and EYM for the youth community and traditional leaders of the three constituent wards of Amejo, Okonobo, and Ugbokolo, saying it is the foolproof traditional method capable of making the cultists of potential ones renounce or decline membership as the case may be, urging all concerned to give the youth maximum support in that regard.
“As a law-abiding and development-conscious organisation, Ede-ma Development Association (EDA) is worried that the police who are on ground in Ugbokolo and Okpokwu LGA, and who were helpless in the face of the rampant cult killings in Ugbokolo for over two weeks as they did not make a single arrest suddenly jumped into to action on the basis of a mere petition by no other person but an alleged cult leader, John Okwori, against Agboji John Audu and some EYA and EYM leaders.
“While we do not, and will never, support a resort to self-help, jungle justice, or any form of criminality, we are surprised that the police responded to Mr Okwori’s petition in the manner they did when they failed to, on their own, undertake any preliminary investigation of the matter, including background checks on the character of the petitioner, the killing of about 10 youths within a space of two or three weeks, and the series of protests in Ugbokolo town following the bloodbath.
“We hereby call on the Benue State Police Command to immediately release Agboji John Audu whose arrest and remand, from information available to us, and as contained in the Police First Information Report (FIR), are on the basis of frivolous and unsubstantiated allegations of “criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, acts of terrorism, mischief by fire and attempt to commit culpable homicide.
“We are appalled that the police seem to have ignored about 10 homicide incidents and prioritised a petition written on the basis of sheer allegations cooked in the chambers of the petitioner’s lawyer.
“We call on the police command to therefore retrace its steps and commence a thorough investigation of the killings to unravel the killers, as well as the cult groups and their members.
“Ede-ma as a progressive civil society organisation believes that cultism and indeed all forms of criminality and violence in any part of the state constitute danger to the security of lives and property, peace, and prosperity everywhere,” the group noted.