A notorious cultist identified as ‘Pastor’ was set ablaze by an angry mob in Ekuigbo community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State on Wednesday, December 9.
It was gathered that the dreaded cultist was alleged to be the leader of a cult group responsible for several killings and armed robberies in Ughelli and environs. He was said to be on the wanted list of the police, military and local vigilantes.
According to a witness who spoke to journalists in Ughelli, the suspect was beaten to pulp and then burnt to death after a failed attempt to kill a member of Ekuigbo community vigilante group.
“They were about three of them that came with a bike looking for “Operation,” whom I don’t want to mention his name for security reasons. Note that this same boy, after a mob set ablaze one of their members (Barger) recently, had declared war against our vigilantes,” the witness narrated.
“When they came to the town, they didn’t find them because they had gone on patrol. So, they decided to trace them to their location. While they went, they met on the way. Immediately, Pastor shot at “Operation” three times, but the bullet did not penetrate. At this point, they mounted their motorcycles and fled.
“But they were chased by both the vigilantes and members of the community who were jolted and awoken by the gunshots. In the process, one of the vehicles chasing them knocked down the motorcycle and they fell down. At this point, they started running on foot, Pastor was caught in the process and was set ablaze along with the motorcycle they came with by the mob.”
Another witness, Eric Okunima wrote on Facebook:
“On my way from Warri this afternoon (at about 1:45pm), a saw a crowd gathered at the Ekiugbo junction, along the Ughelli-Patani Expressway. A young man could be seen in the midst of a burning fire. I made a brief stop some metres away to know what was happening; a young man told me some suspected cultists had attempted to kill another person (not named) but luck ran out of them. According to his narrative, the assailants were given a hot chase, leading to the arrest of one of them while the other(s) escaped.
He said the unlucky one was beaten to a pulp before being set ablaze by an angry mob.
Ughelli has been a “land of blood” with dastardly killings arising from what is widely believed to be a renewed cult war which has claimed no fewer than twenty (20) lives in the last six (6) weeks.”
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