The Nigerian Army has arrested eight persons alleged to be members of a cult group in Bayelsa State.
In a statement signed by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu and released on the official Facebook page of the Nigerian Army Friday, all eight persons were arrested by the troops of the ’16 Brigade on Exercise STILL WATERS III’ operation.
According to the statement, the troops recovered “one Baretta pistol, one locally made double barrel pistol, 5 rounds of 9mm ammunition, three live cartridges, one Baofeng communication radio, one binocular, two mobile phones and substance suspected to be cannabis,” from the suspects.
The statement titled, ‘EXERCISE STILL WATERS III: TROOPS RAID CULTISTS CAMP, Rescue Kidnap Victim in Edo,’ partly read, “The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, in a proactive move, recently flagged off various exercises across the geopolitical zones in the country to mitigate surge of insecurity in the months dovetailing to the end of the year 2023.
“These exercises are already yielding positive results, as troops of 16 Brigade on Exercise STILL WATERS III successfully conducted a raid operation on a suspected cultists’ camp within Oloibiri oil field, at Otuabagi community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.”
The statement also disclosed that a kidnap victim in Edo State was successfully rescued by troops of ‘4 Brigade on Exercise STILL WATERS III.’
It read, “Similarly, troops of 4 Brigade on Exercise STILL WATERS III on 18 October 2023 responded to a distress call by a law-abiding citizen, who reported a kidnap incident at Obagie community in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.
“The troops promptly swung into action and rescued one Miss Blessing Uwenze kidnapped by a criminal gang. Two members of the kidnap gang were arrested and taken into custody for further investigation.
“Items recovered from the suspects include 2 Semi Automatic Pump Action guns, 4 Live Cartridges, one mobile phone, and fetish items.
“The victim, Miss Blessing Uwenze, has been reunited with her family.”
