By Ifeizu Joe
Men suspected to be cultists on Sunday butchered a mentally ill man in Awka, the Anambra State capital, dismembering his body with all manner of dangerous weapons.
A source who revealed this to THE RAZOR said the deceased man, who is very well known in Zik Avenue part of Awka was in his regular post at Dike Park, when the men suspected to be cultists came for him.
“The cultists expended many bullets on him, but the bullets couldn’t penetrate him.
“They resorted to stabbing him, but all attempts failed. They decided to use cutlasses on him, and even stoning him, until he gave up, and the men left immediately,” the source narrated.
It was gathered that the cultists went after him because of his involvement in cultism before his mental illness started. It was however not clear why he was targeted, especially as he had become deranged.
Our source said: “Some people suspect that the man was not mad, but was just pretending, but it is obvious that he was mad because he even eats his own excreta.
“They say he used to be a cultist before he went mad. No one knows why he went mad, but you know this cultists, once you are committed, you are committed, and they must come for you.”
Anambra State Police command confirmed the development. The spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga said the DPO of Central Police Station in Awka deployed men promptly to the scene.
“The DPO immediately swung into action, retrieved the corpse, and deposited it in a morgue.
“I cannot confirm that the man was mad, but when the family comes for the corpse, we will be able to ascertain the mental health of the deceased man.
“For now, police is liaising with eyewitnesses to ensure that the perpetrators are tracked and arrested.”
Sources revealed that the deceased man in an indigene of Enugu State, who is resident in Awka, and was known to have association with a certain cult group.
“He was a bad guy, and he did many charms to protect himself. It is obvious that the charms he did when he was sane, was what was protecting him during the period of his insanity. That was why bullets and stabbing could not penetrate him.
“He did those things while he was sane, and since he went mad, the charms were still working.
“You know that most of these charms mostly abhor sex, but because he is mad and has not been meeting women, even though he was mad, the charms remained potent.”
Cult related killings have been rife in Awka for a long time. This has been attributed to power tussle among rival groups within the state capital.
A musician was last week shot dead at the gate of his house, while a revenue agent was shot dead at the popular Eke Awka market in July, and his head severed from his body.
