Police apprehend 17 cultists in Abia, recover guns, other arms

Seventeen suspected male cultists aged between 18 and 28 years have been arrested by the  Abia State Police Command.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Maureen Chinaka made this known in a press release on Tuesday night.

She said that some of the suspected cultists were arrested at their various meeting points, while the others were nabbed on their way to perpetrate crimes.

According to the Abia State Police Command, items recovered from the suspects include: five short guns, three live ammunition, thirteen  mobile phones of different makes, two  cutlasses, one  axe and one  black barete.

The Command said that the arrest of the suspects followed  the recent upsurge in cult-related activities in the State,  including the attack on 13/05/2026 at No. 29 Brass Road, Aba, where a young man was shot and macheted to death by a group of suspected cultists.

The Command also recalled that another young man was shot by suspected cultists  on 24/05/2026 at Ehere, near Opobo jppunction in Aba.

“The Abia State Police Command, leveraging on actionable intelligence, took the fight to the criminals. Operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit ,VCRU, successfully apprehended seventeen (17) suspected cultists linked to the aforementioned incidents in Aba, Abia State”, she stated.

The Police said that the suspects are being charged to the Court as investigation has been concluded on the matter, 

It  further assured that the Abia State Police Command under the watch of Commissioner of Police, CP Danlandi Isa would ensure that there is no hiding place for cultists and other criminal activities in Abia.