16-year-old kidnapper nabbed for cultism

Ebenezer Adurokiya, writes on how a 16-year-old, who was in search of quick riches, joined Eiye cult but was later nabbed and paraded among four others by 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army at Effurun in Delta State.

Last week Wednesday, five cultists and one kidnapper, who met their waterloo the previous weekend, were napped and paraded by the 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army, Agbarho, Warri in Delta State.

Today, mere mentioning that one is a kidnapper or a member of cult group, especially of someone who belongs to a fearful gang which had held a community spell bound for some time think, no one would think of any member of such group aged below 20. But such is not the case in the scenario that led to the discovery of a 16-year-old member of Eiye Confraternity in Agbarho, Delta State recently.

Ochuko Okpako, was a secondary school drop-out and was lured into Eiye cult at Agbarho, Delta State.

Okpako and other suspects were paraded in Warri last week by the Commanding Officer, Lt.Col. Ifeanyi Otu of 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army.

Narrating how he joined the cult group, Okpako, disclosed that his group was engaged in terrorizing Agbarho and neighbouring communities in the state for over three years.

He said he was initiated into the deadly cult three years ago when he was a pupil at Agbarho Primary School, a few kilometres away from the oil city of Warri.

“I was deceived by friends that I should join one of the numerous cult groups, especially Eiye and I would be rich,” he disclosed.

Narrating his initiation experience, Okpako said, “While I was being initiated, they tied my eyes with blue cotton wool, soaked with hot pepper and they started beating me. Afterwards, they threw the hot pepper into my eyes and I started crying. It was after this horrible ordeal that I became rugged.”

His cult group is not the only one making life hard for residents of Agbarho and its environs. According to Okpako, there are Eiye, Baga, Blue Beret among others.

The teenager, when asked how the marauders can be exterminated, said there was no amount of security checks that could reduce or eliminate the cult groups in Agbarho.

He claimed to be a current student at Ogbe Secondary School in Agbarho and he only recently sat for Junior Secondary School Certificate examination.

Though appeared harmless and naive among the other four suspects, Okpako however, denied ever snuffing life out of anyone since he joined the group, but admitted maiming and inflicting injuries on several persons.

“We fight our enemies even other cult groups,” he, however, revealed.

Okpako, pleaded for mercy and insisted that he had turned new leaf, stated that he has, however, lost appetite to go back to school.

Describing it as perplexing and untoward, Lt. Col. Otu stated that the suspects, who were made up of young boys, have decided to sink into the world of crimes.

“It is quite unfortunate that a group of young men and boys have opted to be involved in kidnapping and cultism. At this stage of their lives, they should engage themselves in meaningful and productive things that will benefit them in future,” Otu noted.

While admonishing youths to lay their hands on gainful and legitimate ventures instead of criminality, the army boss disclosed that the suspects would be handed over to the law enforcement agents after the preliminary investigations.

The kidnap suspect, elderly John Panama, denied kidnapping a year-old Oghene Obruke, saying that he was only trying to take the boy back to his father when he missed his way.