Police bust criminal hideouts, arrest seven in A’Ibom
The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested seven suspected cultists during raids on criminal hideouts in Uyo and Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, recovering suspected Indian hemp and smoking accessories.
The operation, conducted around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, targeted locations identified through intelligence as suspected centres for illicit drug sales, consumption and cult-related activities.
*Suspected Indian hemp.
Nkereuwem Effiong
The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested seven suspected cultists during raids on criminal hideouts in Uyo and Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, recovering suspected Indian hemp and smoking accessories.
The operation, conducted around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, targeted locations identified through intelligence as suspected centres for illicit drug sales, consumption and cult-related activities.
The suspects arrested are Mbosowo Effiong, Anthony Eden, David Bright, Usen Oko, Ndifreke Friday, Ndifreke Effiong and Ubokobong Esang.
Police operatives recovered several wraps of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, alongside smoking accessories, including Rizzlers, during searches at the locations.
The operation forms part of the command’s intelligence-led efforts to dismantle criminal networks, disrupt the distribution and consumption of illicit substances and prevent criminal activities in residential communities.
The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, Baba Mohammed Azare, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to combating cultism, drug-related offences and other forms of criminality through proactive policing, targeted operations and intelligence gathering.
Azare warned that the police would not allow criminal elements to turn residential communities into centres of illicit drug activities, cult-related violence and other threats to public safety.
He urged individuals and groups involved in such activities to desist, warning that the command would continue to identify, track down and prosecute offenders in accordance with the law.
The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Timfon John, reiterated the police determination to sustain the crackdown and urged residents to remain vigilant and provide useful information to security agencies.
John, Police Public Relations Officer for the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, assured residents of the command’s commitment to maintaining peace, law and order across the state.
