The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dankwara, on Thursday, said 53 persons had been arrested in connection with cult-related activities in the state.

Dankwara disclosed this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Benin, the state capital.

He warned citizens and organisations in the state to stop backing cult groups by providing logistics for their nefarious activities.

The statement read, “It would be recalled that recently there was an upsurge in secret cult activities and killings in the state where some faceless cultists had clandestine meetings in hotels, apartments, lounges, houses and drinking joints in different locations in the city and discussed how to attack and kill their perceived rival secret cult members, which resulted into the killing of some persons.

“This necessitated my meeting with my management team and command tactical teams. In the end, I gave a marching order to them to go into the streets, smoke out the cultists and arrest them all.

“On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the command’s anti-cultism, Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Units, in collaboration with the Edo State Security Network, while acting on credible information, arrested 53 male suspects in different locations. The suspects have been profiled, investigated and processed to court, and as I speak, they are in prison.

“In a bid to expand ideas in finding solutions in fighting the scourge of secret cult activities and killings in the state, I had a meeting with some concerned citizens in my office and after a peaceful deliberation, we came out with some credible and workable solutions, of which I cannot disclose at this meeting until they are executed and targeted results are achieved.”

The police boss warned secret cult members to stop their activities or leave the state.