The Rivers State Police Command has arrested a police officer and a University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) student over suspected cult-related violence, seizing firearms and other weapons during a signing-out ceremony for final-year students.
According to a statement on Friday by the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, the suspects — Police Corporal Onwukwe Godswill, attached to Elimgbu Division, and Ifeanyi Israel, a 200-Level Biomedical Technology student — were allegedly preparing for a clash with rival cultists on campus on September 26.
The police said the suspects were taken into custody and searched, with weapons including pistols, ammunition, and axes recovered.
“A subsequent search of the house of the suspected cult leader, Cpl Onwukwe, by operatives, resulted in the recovery of one locally made pistol and two machetes,” Iringe-Koko added.
Both suspects and the recovered items remain in police custody as investigations continue to determine the full extent of their involvement and identify possible accomplices.
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, reaffirmed the force’s commitment to maintaining peace in the state, warning that “there will be no hiding place for criminals” and urging the public to report suspicious activities.
The arrest comes a week after the command detained a security guard, Godday, over the alleged abduction and defilement of a 14-year-old girl in the Mothercat area of Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt.
