Henry Odewingie narrates his deadly encounter with cult group who killed his ex boss

By Lekan Lisoye 

A victim of a deadly cult attack, Henry Odewingle has narrated how he narrowly escaped death by whisker at the hands of a deadly cult group who attacked him at home along Igarewa Street, Benin City, Edo State

Although the assailants left a mark on him by removing one of his teeth, he managed to survive the attack which occurred  in the early hours of the fateful day.

Odewingle while narrating his near-death encounter at the hands of the cultists on his hospital bed said he miraculously survived the deadly attack.

“I know with what happened I could have been dead, but by God’s grace, I’m alive today,” he said.

According to him, the cultists gained entry into his compound by scaling through the fence, shot into the air to scare away anyone who may tried to assist him 

It could be recalled that Henry Odewingle who resides at No-8 IGarewa Street, Benin City, Edo State was attacked by cultists. Neu-black movement, popularly known as Black Axe, due to his witness to the gruesome murder of his boss, Steve Idemudia, who as I leanrt belonged to Supreme Eiye Confraternity, while at work recently.

It was revealed that the killer of Steve Idemudia belonged to a rival cult, Black Axe, and due to the inter-cult clash, Steve was traced to his office in Benin, and was shot at close range, a whole episode that was witnessed by Henry Odewingle from his hideout.

"When they realized that I saw them while killing my Boss, I also became a target, even when they knew that I belonged to no cult, but their excuse was that I may reveal their identity to the law enforcement agencies.

They had come to my house several  times and they did not meet me at home, they ransacked my house, properties were destroyed, they set a portion of the house on fire.

I later moved out of the house and hibernated at another location, unfortunately, they later traced me to my hide out.

He said, 'when they found me out where I was hiding, I just woke up with the barking of  dogs and the sound of gun shots. I was terrified but unfortunately for me, one of the guys (the cultists) came to me where I was hiding and said,  'We are cultists, Black Axe Confraternity. You think we will not find you out?’

One was standing over me and I pleaded to no avail. I was hit with a plank several times on my back, hands, head and on my leg”

“They dragged me outside and continued hitting me with clubs and planks. When they discovered that I was not breathing again they flew the scene.

“They thought that I was dead. Even the people around the place abandoned me to my fate because they also thought that I was dead. But God came to my rescue. I thanked God and those who rushed me to a private hospital.

“I want to thank the people, (passers-by) that saved my life, because if not for them I would have been dead by now.”

He however called on the government at all levels to seriously intervene by empowering the local vigilante group to effectively deal with the situation of insecurity in the country and protect law-abiding residents who are becoming victims of cultists.”

It could be recalled that different studies have tagged the Black Axe cult group as most dreaded cult in Nigeria.

Their nefarious activities include drug dealing, smuggling, kidnapping, and extortion. 

Nigeria recorded almost 6,000 gang-related deaths across 36 states from 2006 to 2015.