Dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on Benue community as cult war rages

A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on Naka town, Gwer-West Headquarters, following an unprecedented rival cult clash that has resulted in the deaths of 2 members.

While justifying his action before announcing the imposition of the curfew on Thursday, May 16, 2024, the chairman of the LGA, Henry Agba, said he was left with no other option but to impose the curfew to thwart further escalation of the bloody war.

“There was a clash between rival cultists in the local government during which two persons from both sides were killed.

“As a result of that, the LGA became tense, so we had to place a night curfew to contain the situation. As of yesterday (Wednesday), movement ceased from 8 pm to 6 am, so at the moment there is a restoration of peace and normalcy,” Agba said.

Confirming the cult clash, an eyewitness who wouldn’t want his name mentioned said the crisis, which started as a minor disagreement between two young men, escalated into a full-blown cult war.

“In the last three days, the situation became tense, gang members engaged in bloody street fights, killing two persons and injuring several others.”

“They also resorted to moving from house to house in search of members of rival gangs to attack them, despite the intervention of the police in Naka town.

“The development created tension in the town as people, particularly business owners, started feeling very unsafe, and some even locked up their shops for fear of being attacked,” he narrated.

Two rival cult groups, Black Axe and Red, have been engaging themselves in an all-out war for the past four days.

The clash took on a very dangerous dimension on Wednesday as members of the gangs were going about conducting house-to-house searches of rival cult members, resulting in heightened tension and the eventual imposition of a curfew by the council chairman.