Operatives of the anti-cultism unit of the Imo State Police command have raided Nekede and Ihiagwa communities hosting two tertiary institutions and arrested four notorious cultists.
The institutions are the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) and the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede.
The state Police Commissioner, Rabiu Ladodo, said in Owerri that the action became inevitable following frequent reports of cult-related activities as well as other heinous crimes within Nekede/Ihiagwa and its environs.
He added that the four belong to a gang of cultists that had been terrorising residents of the university community.
He said the police had received credible information that members of a notorious cult group were forcefully trying to initiate an innocent student of FUTO.
This, according to him, prompted the operatives of anti-cultism unit to quickly swing into action and apprehended the four (4) suspects within Ihiagwa.
He gave the names of the suspects as Jacob Oche Emmanuel, 25; Enwongwo Uduak, 21; Isaac Henry, 20; and Phillip Chibuike, 21.
The CP said that the suspects have made useful statements confessing to belong to the Neo Black Movement of Africa popularly known as Black Axe secret confraternity (AYE).
He noted that investigations are in progress and efforts are being intensified to burst the syndicate and unmask other members of the gang.