Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested two suspected cultists after the killing of a student of Niger Delta University, Amassoma, during a suspected cult clash in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
According to The Punch, police said the suspects were apprehended while allegedly mobilising to launch a reprisal attack over the death of a suspected member of their group.
The victim, identified as 20-year-old Ebube Jonathan, a 200-level Management Science student of NDU, was reportedly attacked by unidentified assailants along Kabaka Street in Amassoma at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to the police, Jonathan, who was suspected to be a member of the Black Axe confraternity, was hacked with machetes and shot before a medical doctor confirmed him dead.
Confirming the development in a statement on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Musa Mohammed, said operatives of the Amassoma Division swiftly responded to the incident and arrested two suspects.
Those arrested were identified as Godswin Adobu, 24, a 300-level Fine and Applied Arts student in the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Niger Delta University, and 21-year-old Tarilaefa Fesingha.
Mohammed said the suspects were arrested at Ending Pele in Amassoma while allegedly preparing to avenge Jonathan’s death.
During the operation, police recovered two locally made pistols, two live rounds of 9mm ammunition and substances suspected to be illicit drugs from the suspects.
The statement read, “The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested two suspected cultists and recovered two locally made pistols with two live 9mm rounds of ammunition following a cult-related incident that claimed the life of a suspected cult member in the Amassoma Community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
“On Tuesday, 7th July 2026, at about 1400 hours, one Ebube Jonathan ‘m ‘, a 200-Level student of Management Science, Niger Delta University, Amassoma, and a suspected member of the Black Axe Confraternity, was attacked by yet-to-be-identified assailants along Kabaka Street, Amassoma. The victim was macheted, shot, and later confirmed dead by a medical doctor.
“Following a swift follow-up operation at about 1600 hours on the same day, operatives attached to Amassoma Division responded promptly and arrested two suspects: Godswin Adobu ‘m’, 24 years old, a 300-level student of Fine and Applied Arts, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Niger Delta University and Tarilaefa Fesingha ‘m’, 21 years old. They were both arrested at Ending Pele, Amassoma, where they had allegedly mobilised in an attempt to avenge the death of their gang member.”
The Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, Iyamah Daniel Edebor, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to tackling cultism and other forms of criminality across the state.
He warned individuals involved in criminal activities to desist or face the full weight of the law, while urging residents to continue supporting the police with timely and credible information to strengthen the fight against crime.
Cult-related violence has continued to pose a major security challenge in Amassoma, the host community of Niger Delta University.
In recent months, clashes between rival confraternities have claimed several lives, left others injured and heightened security concerns within the university community and its environs.
