Maiduguri, one of the hotbeds of Boko Haram insurgency is in the news for another reason, this time, three soldiers suspected to be members of a dreaded cult group have been arrested by the Police.
The soldiers, identified as Lance Corporals Augustine Aronlo, David Emmanuel and Private Onu Chidubem, were paraded by the Police in Maiduguri alongside 22 others.
According to the Borno State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Aliyu, the suspects belong to a group, Neo Black Movement (NBM)
Aliyu, said the group were caught at about 2a.m. in a hotel built at a deserted area of Maiduguri during an initiation process.
“The strategies put in place have again yielded results as 25 members of Neo Black Movement (NBM) were arrested for criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, cultism and armed robbery.”
“Following a tip-off, a total of 25 members of the Neo Black Movement (NBM) cult most of whom are students of University of Maiduguri, Ramat Polytechnic and dismissed military personnel were arrested by the command operatives in collaboration with Hunters in Bagani Hotel at Fillin Maideribe, Abuja Sharaton while they were unlawfully gathered and conducting their initiation procession with candles, calabashes containing reasonable quantity of red substance suspected to be human blood and charms of different kinds.”
“Meanwhile, on sighting command operatives/hunters, one of them (now at large) fired a gun shot in the air and took to his heels.
When interviewed by journalists, some of the arrested suspects denied being members of the court group adding that the substance in the calabashes was local drinks and not blood.
