Police have arrested Okonkwo Nzubechukwu, suspected to be a member of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, for allegedly killing a rival cult member, Ugochukwu Igwilo, and videoing the brutal murder.
The Inspector-General of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) nabbed the suspect in Abia State.
Igwilo was beheaded with the murder filmed and circulated on social media.
It was gathered that the suspect, alongside Prince Kalu, also alleged to be a member of the confraternity, was apprehended after operatives of the IRT, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, smashed a seven-man gang that robbed and killed some POS agents within Aba, Abia State, recently.
Sources disclosed that the armed robbers were all members of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity. During interrogation, they confessed that a member of their confraternity, Nzubechukwu, was the person who beheaded the victim in the viral video.
It was gathered further that, after the victim was butchered, Nzubechukwu and three other gang members cut off the victim’s legs, arms, and private part and took them to a native doctor in Ahia Afor village, in Abia State, to prepare some charms that they claimed would give them protection from the police and rival gangs.
Narrating why he killed Igwilo, Nzubechukwu, a student of the Nigeria Maritime Academy, Oron, Cross River State, said: “I am from Idiator North Local Government Area of Imo State and I joined the Vikings confraternity in 2013. I live in Aba with my parents; Mr. Virus took me to join the Vikings. I was the former head of the confraternity in Aba in 2015. I ruled for six months before I was removed. We had three guns during my time.
“I was arrested because I killed Ugochukwu Igwilo, who is a member of Black Axe confraternity. We had a cult war in Aba in 2020 and Ugochukwu killed one of our members, Lampard, and the message was reported on our WhatsApp group chat. Ugochukwu attacked Lampard in his compound in Umuchichi around the Osisioma area of Aba and butchered him and, before then, Ugochukwu had also attempted to kill me, but I escaped.
“Ugochukwu was also the former head of the Black Axe group in Aba. So, on March 6, 2021, Ugochukwu came to where we were playing football with one Segior and a member of our group. There was a member of our group known as More Light who was with a gun at that time. We ordered Ugochukwu to follow us into the bush with the gun and he obeyed. But while we were moving into the bush, he attempted to escape and Otiko, a member of our group, went after him and broke his head with a big stick. Then I shot him with the locally made gun and he died on the spot. We dragged his dead body to our island, which was not far from the bush. I cut off his head and I videotaped it. I then sent the video to our WhatsApp group chat, where it went viral.
“I also presented the head to our members who were not on the ground when we killed the victim. Two other members of our group Spiritual and Otiko then went to the corpse and removed more body parts and they took the parts to a native doctor at Ogbor Hill in Ahia Afor. The herbalist pounded the head then asked us to pounded the bones, when our present member was pounding the head, the herbalist was making incantations for the charms to prevent the police from arresting us. But the charm failed us.
“The video I shared went viral and when More Light was arrested over the POS robbery, he also confessed that he was part of the group that beheaded Igwilo. Prince was just a witness to the crime.
“I was planning to become an engineer but now that dream has been cut short. My biggest regret is that someone else will be sleeping with my girlfriend.”
