Cultist beheads man over ‘spiritual torment’

One Aniebiet Ekpu, alias ‘United’, said to be a member of Iceland confraternity, has allegedly cut off the head of one Mr Udo Mfuk for spiritually tormenting his own son in Inen community, Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The incident was said to have occurred on Monday when the alleged cultist dragged the deceased from his house, tied him to a tree and used a machete to cut off his head.

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An eyewitness, Ntiense Noah, revealed that after the incident, Ekpu who accosted the victim with his gang left the headless body in a pool of blood, forcing family members of the deceased to flee for safety.

 “The gang led by Aniebiet Friday Ekpu a.k.a ‘United’ moved to the deceased’s compound and dragged him out, tied him to a tree and beheaded him.

 “After killing the man, he went to a nearby compound and ransacked houses, seizing phones and robbing the village council chairman, Mr Uduak Noah, of his motorcycle that he recently bought,” he stated.

 It was gathered that some youths blamed the deceased for the sickness of his son who has been bedridden for over six months and whose ill health has defied all prayers and traditional treatment.

 The aggrieved youths of the village were said to have threatened the deceased,  saying he was using witchcraft to torment the son, forcing the victim to report himself to the village council,  seeking an investigation into the matter.

According to another eyewitness, Nsidibe Effiong, “The elders and the youths of this village have investigated the man using traditional means and he was still being investigated before the ‘boys’ killed him yesterday.

 “Even the sick young man is not dead but his father has been killed. We believe that the suspect is a member of the Iceland confraternity that had terrorised this community last year. Now that he has escaped, we are afraid of what will happen here by this end of the year”.

 Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has deposited the corpse in the mortuary, after reporting the incident to the Oruk Anam divisional police station.

 When the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko Macdon, was contacted, he said the divisional police officer in Oruk Anam was yet to report the case to the state command.

“I am not aware of such a report. But let me cross-check my records and get back to you. As soon as we receive such a report, the police would commence an investigation,” he said.