Suspected cultists kill mentally-ill man in Anambra

Men suspected to be cultists have killed a mentally challenged man and dismembered his body on Sunday in Awka, Anambra State capital.

A close source said the deceased, who was well known in Zik Avenue Awka was at his regular post at Dike Park when the suspected cultists attacked him.

“The suspected cultists expended many bullets on him, but the bullets couldn’t penetrate him. They resorted to stabbing him, but all attempts failed. They decided to use cutlasses on him, and even stoning him, until he gave up, and the men left immediately,” the source stated.

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Daily Trust gathered, that the cultists went after the deceased because of his past involvement in cultism before his mental illness started. However, it was not clear why he was targeted.

A source said, “Some people suspect that the man was not mad, but was just pretending, but it is obvious that he was mad because he even eats his own excreta.

“They say he used to be a cultist before he went mad. No one knows why he went mad, but you know this cultists, once you are committed, you are committed, and they must come for you.”

The spokesman of Anambra State Police command DSP Tochukwu Ikenga who confirmed the incident, said the DPO of Central Police Station in Awka immediately deployed his men to the scene.

“The DPO immediately swung into action, retrieved the corpse, and deposited it in a morgue. I cannot confirm that the man was mad, but when the family comes for the corpse, we will be able to ascertain the mental health of the deceased man. For now, the police is liaising with eyewitnesses to ensure that the perpetrators are tracked and arrested,” he stated.

However, another source revealed that the deceased was an indigene of Enugu State and resided in Awka. He was known to have been associated with a certain cult group.

The source said, “He was a bad guy, and he did many charms to protect himself. It is obvious that the charms he did when he was sane, were what was protecting him during the period of his insanity. That was why bullets and stabbing could not penetrate him.

“He did those things while he was sane, and since he went mad, the charms were still working. You know that most of these charms mostly abhor sex, but because he is mad and has not been meeting women, even though he was mad, the charms remained potent.” 

Cult-related killings have been pronounced in Awka for a long time.

It was gathered that this has been attributed to a power tussle among rival groups within the state capital.

A musician was last week shot dead at the gate of his house, while a revenue agent was gunned down at the popular Eke Awka market in July, and his head was severed from his body.