Police shoot d*ad notorious cultist during gun duel in Rivers

Operatives of Rivers Police Command, have shot dead a notorious cultist identified as Azunda Elechi.

The detectives shot dead Elechi, who’s a member of the Dey-Gbam cult group, and among those that attacked Mgbola Village, the Ndele Emohua Local Government Area, where four persons were killed, on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this incident in a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Thursday, June 1.

“On Wednesday, May 31, 2023, the Dey-Gbam cult group invaded the community again. In a shootout between the cultists and the police/local vigilantes, Azunda Elechi was fatally injured.

“One pump action and two live cartridges with three empty cartridge shells were recovered.

“Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Nwonyi Polycarp, has urged parents/guardians to monitor the activities of their children/wards to ensure that they do not succumb to societal pressure to commit crimes.

“Similarly, members of the public are enjoined to remain law-abiding and report suspicious activities in their neighbourhood to the police,” Iringe-Koko was quoted as saying in the statement.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) dragged two men identified as Emmanuel Victor and Wisdom Ikechukwu, before a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square for alleged armed robbery.

Following their arraignment, the defendants are now facing four counts of conspiracy, robbery and armed robbery.

The defendants and others who are still at large, according to the prosecuting counsel, Olayemi Shofolu, committed the offence on January 8, 2022, around Maza Maza Bus Stop, FESTAC Town, Lagos.