The Edo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, said on Friday that 15 suspects were arrested for operating private security guard companies without a licence in the state.

Gbenga Agun, the State Commandant of the corps, who disclosed this in Benin during an event organised to mark the new year and his one year in office, said that five private guard companies were also sealed off by the corps.

Agun also added that the Private Guards Companies Department of the command trained 96 private guard personnel in the period under review.

While disclosing that 110 suspects were arrested for various criminal offences in the state in 2024, he added that five of the cases were charged to court, with five judgements secured in favour of the corps, and six others still pending in court.

He added that the anti-fraud unit of the command also recovered N1,655,000 for various victims in the year under review, among several other interventions.

According to him, the command handled 25 cases of intervention by the Agro Rangers Unit, preventing bloody clashes between farmers and herders.

“The corps also provided security services to farms like Okomu, Ellah Lakes Farms and NCSC Farms, among others. The Peace and Conflict Unit of the command also resolved 59 cases,” he said.

A 29-year-old man, Mathias Amunde Ugwe, who k!lled his mother, Mrs Justina Amunde, in Ohong community, Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, has been arrested.

The victim’s body was recovered from a well on December 28, 2025.

It was gathered that a combined team of the IPO, SA Security to Obudu Local Government Chairman, Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Obudu Chapter, and men of the Nigerian Police Force, Batriko in Eastern Boki Local Government Area, arrested the suspect.

A publisher, Elijah Ugani, who confirmed the arrest in a Facebook post on Friday, January 10, 2025, said that an anonymous source hinted that the victim was m8rdered and her hair shaved for rituals.

The security operatives also apprehended the ritualist who instructed the suspect to shave his mother’s hair and bring it to him.

According to reports, Mrs Amunde attended the Christmas vigil on the 24th of December 2024 and came back very late.

She then locked all the doors in the house without any knowledge that her own son had connived with his friend and hid themselves in the store, waiting to commit the crime.

“A few hours into the night, the house help who stays with late Mrs Justina Amunde, went to the kitchen to get drinking water, found out that the k!ller Mathias and his friend were hiding in the store,” a source said.

“The house help then raised the alarm and the victim came to the rescue of the girl. Unfortunately for her, her own son, Mathias, started hitting her with a heavy hammer, after dispossessing her of cash.

“When he noticed that his mother was no longer breathing, his friend assisted him to carry the corpse and dumped it inside a well in the compound.

“Having deposited her corpse in the well, they ran out of the house with the house help to Boki Local Government Area and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone.

“But the house help escaped to Utanga, Obanliku Local Government Area to meet her parents on the 27th of December, 2024. The girl then narrated her ordeal to her parents, who later contacted us. We then found the corpse in the well on the 28th December, 2024”

It was also gathered that the suspect has a fractured leg as a result of an accident he had a few years ago.

A former Catholic priest of 17 years, Dr Echezona Obiagbaosogu, said he resigned from the priesthood to embrace the African traditional religion.

Obiagbaosogu, a lecturer in African Traditional Religion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, disclosed this after defending his PhD Dissertation titled “Rainmaking and Control in Igbo African Medicine,” on Wednesday, January 8, 2025.

Obiagbaosogu, who is now married, said he was fascinated by the traditional African spirituality and the art of rainmaking, adding that Africa possesses enormous resources and value which have been eroded by colonial powers.

He disclosed that he spent several months studying under a renowned native doctor, learning the intricacies of the craft, adding that he conducted research intending to recover the lost African value.

“I have come to realise that my true calling is to serve my people through the ancient traditions of our ancestors. I was a Catholic priest for 17 years before resigning to embrace the traditional African religion. The topic of my research is ‘Rainmaking and control in Igbo African medicine: A case study of Isieke in Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State,” he said.

“I partly lived with my maternal grandfather, who was a traditionalist, while my father was a Christian before he passed away. Though he was a Christian, he still believed in traditional materials. He was an agriculturist with trees around the compound and always brought in new ones, some of which he said were medicinal.

“So, I learned from him to appreciate nature. My background is also significant. I was once a Catholic priest—Rev. Father. I began this research as a priest five years ago and then left the priesthood, so now I am married.

“Everything about this research stems from my curiosity about nature and God. The research reflects my curiosity about spirituality and the nature of God. As a priest, I had the opportunity to work in health sectors, and I understand what health is all about.”

“I conducted this research with the intention of recovering our lost African values. There was one of my father’s friends, and when I was in the seminary, I founded a school called the Society for African Culture

“During that period, we invited my father’s friend to demonstrate that rainmaking was possible. He came and made it rain. This experience led me to investigate it in an academic way.

“My research in rainmaking and control is rooted in finding the truth and understanding how native doctors contribute to preserving African values. I discovered that it is indeed a reality and done by dibia (native doctors). I am not turning my back on God, but rather, I am embracing the divine in a more meaningful and authentic way.”

Obiagbaosogu also shared his thoughts on the relationship between magic, religion, and science, adding that, “Civilisation began with magic, moved to religion, and today we are talking about nanoscience and other fields.

“The white man was able to explore these magical laws, codify them, and call them science. So, science is essentially what was once magic.

“We can also access these magical laws, which we call African magic or religion. It is not the African magic of Nollywood. The African magic of Nollywood is one of the tools used to destroy our culture and values.

“African magic is actually African science, which remains unexplored. We must begin to modify, codify, and document it for posterity.”

When asked about his decision to leave the priesthood, Obiagbaosogu said, “Life is a process. Things happen, and people begin to look left and right.

“One important thing is for the person to know themselves. If you understand yourself and remain open to reality, you will begin to make decisions for your life.”

He declined to discuss the specifics of his resignation, saying it was a matter of personal conviction.