Worried by the increasing activities of cultists in Bayelsa State, the Commissioner of Police Command, Don Awunah, on Sunday said the Command has created an Anti-Cultism Unit to tackle the menace.
The CP said this during his maiden press briefing in Yenagoa.
Awunah noted that said the strategic and operational supports of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, have yielded maximum results.
The Commissioner, who paraded 31 criminals for offences ranging from cultism to kidnapping, armed robbery and obtaining money by false pretense, said: “Our policing will be anchored on people’s oriented policing.
“Operation Safer Bayelsa, a crime reduction strategy, aimed among other crime fighting techniques has been set up to mobilise, refocus personnel and resources for optimum performance.
“Operation Safer Bayelsa is also expected to confront frontal crimes like armed robbery, kidnapping, sex related offenses, and communal strife.
“Introduction of Operation Safer Bayelsa has recorded huge gains in terms of arrest of criminal elements and recovery of fire arms from violent criminals in Yenagoa.”
The CP noted that comparatively on the national crime index, Bayelsa State ranks amongst the lowest in crime rate, but conversely among the highest in investment.
Awunah said: “The apparent low crime rate must not be taken for granted.
“It must be sustained, reinvigorated and improved upon.
“A cursory analysis of crime pattern in the state indicates evidently that, most prevalent crimes are driven by cultism.
“Membership of the secret cult criminal gangs appears to have permeated the ranks of some misguided youths in the state, whose minders are disgruntled elements, engaged in criminal enterprise.”
Awunah disclosed that on February 1, policemen from Igbogene Division on a tip-off arrested three cultists: Gospel Peter (28), Chijioke Egi (22) and Felix Obeni (23).
They were arrested in the process of initiating Henry Chukwu (20) into DEBAM secret cult in a bush at Igbogene.
In another development, Saviour Johnson and two others now at large, attacked and robbed Edisemi Robinson of her Tecno GSM handset valued at N15,000.
The suspects were arrested with a machete.
Awunah said on February 9, three gunmen operating in Toyota Corolla saloon car, marked JJJ 712 EW, grey in colour, attacked and shot 50-year-old Okoye Igali.
He was also robbed of an undisclosed sum of money.
Awunah said: “Some of the things recovered from the suspects include one AK47 rifle, seven locally made pistols, four locally made single barely guns, Toyota salon car, three cutlasses, eight live cartridges, packets of tramadol and some weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.”