Cult War Claims Four in Anambra Community as Residents, Police Differ on Casualty

A suspected cult clash between the Aiye and Black Axe groups has reportedly claimed the lives of four young men in Nawfia community ,Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Investigations by our reporter who visited Nawfia indicated that members of the Aiye confraternity allegedly attacked Black Axe members at the busy Afor Nawfia Market along the Onitsha–Awka Old Road, leading to multiple casualties.

A community insider in Nawfia, who requested anonymity for security reasons, confirmed the incident. According to the source, “four persons were shot dead, while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries.”
This account, however, contrasts with the position of the Anambra State Police Command, which initially reported that four persons sustained injuries, without confirming any deaths.

The insider maintained: “Four people were actually shot dead, but it is possible that others who were wounded fled the scene to avoid being identified.

In a statement released on Monday, the spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command SP Ikenga Tochukwu said operatives attached to the Special Anti-Cult Squad (SPACS), Enugwu-Ukwu, responded to the incident, which occurred on Sunday evening.

According to the police, a gang operating in a black Lexus SUV, with an unidentified registration number, “stormed Afor Nawfia Market and opened fire indiscriminately.”
The statement added that the violent attack left four individuals fatally injured, after which the assailants escaped.

Police noted that the gunmen had left the scene before operatives arrived. Preliminary intelligence gathered at the location, they said, has provided “useful leads,” and efforts are underway to track down and arrest the perpetrators.

Despite the police stating that the attackers used a black SUV, the insider insisted that the gunmen arrived on motorcycles, targeted their victims directly, and killed four persons before fleeing.

The Police Command reaffirmed its commitment to combating cultism, violent crime, and all forms of criminality in the state. It assured residents that “further developments will be communicated as investigations progress.”