There is serious tension in Benin, the Edo State capital, as rival cult groups, Black Axe and Maphite Confraternities, have resumed their battle for supremacy, which has so far led to the killing of no fewer than 15 people.
This troubling situation comes barely three months after the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, signed the Secret Cult Prohibition Bill into law, approving a 21-year jail term for cultists and their sponsors.
The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the renewed cult war, said to be between the two rival groups, began on Friday, 25 April 2025, with the killing of a physiotherapist, simply identified as Alex, and another individual at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) back gate, Ugbowo, in Benin.
According to eyewitness accounts, Alex, one of the victims, was reportedly gunned down by the hoodlums while he was having lunch.
Apparently, as a reprisal attack, two suspected cult members were reportedly shot at a popular restaurant in the Sapele Road area of Benin by yet-to-be-identified gunmen on the same Friday, thereby opening the floodgates of cult killings in Benin.
At Upper Forestry Road, one alleged cultist was killed, while the Nigerian Tribune also reported that two people were killed at 2nd East Circular and Upper Sokponba Road by the bypass on Saturday.
Another person, said to be a member of one of the groups, was killed at his boutique shop on 2nd Ugbor Road in Benin.
At Ibiwe Street, very close to King Square (Ring Road), another suspected cultist was killed on Saturday evening, just as another individual, said to be a cement dealer, was killed in front of his shop that same day.
On Monday evening, one person was shot dead behind Iyayi Sawmill, Okhoro, in Benin, while another individual, identified as Iyobo, was killed at Obenevebo Community, Sapele Road.
Other areas where casualties have been recorded in the ongoing secret cult killings include Uselu Shell and the Peanut axis on Sapele Road, where one person each was killed between Sunday and Monday.
As of the time of this report, the police authorities in Edo State are yet to issue a statement regarding the worrisome situation in Benin.
It would be recalled that Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, on 30 January 2025, signed the Secret Cult Prohibition Bill into law, thereby approving a 21-year jail term for cultists and their sponsors.
The Secretary to the Edo State Government (SSG), Umar Ikhilor, in a statement, said that the previous law had been repealed to impose harsher punishments on cultists and their sponsors.
He urged the public to take heed and avoid actions detrimental to the peace, growth, and development of Edo State.
He said: “It is hereby announced for the information of the public that the Edo State Secret Cult (Prohibition Law) 2018 has been repealed by the Edo State House of Assembly.
“By virtue of the repeal, the Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Law, 2025, has been passed by the Edo State House of Assembly and signed into law by the Governor of the State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, effective from 24 January 2025.
“Please be informed that in the new law, there are provisions for stricter penalties for anyone found guilty of secret cult-related offences in the state. Section 5 of the law prescribes 21 years of imprisonment for financial and material sponsors of secret cults.”
Okpebholo, who lamented the spate of cult-related killings in the state, noted that his administration places priority on the security of lives and property.
“The issue of cultism is not acceptable in Edo State. We do not want to lose anybody, and we will be firm about this.
“We have ordered security agencies to collaborate and ensure that Edo is safe for all, but not safe for criminals,” he declared.
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