A man, simply identified as Joseph, at the weekend reportedly butchered his cousin, Miss Ekaette Edet, at Odukpani Qua town in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Residents were astonished at the incident which which took place in the wee hours of Saturday, as there was reportedly no rift between the two.
There are however speculations that the action was cult-related.

A source privy to the incident was quoted by Vanguard to have said when Joseph came back on Saturday night, he acted a bit strange, as no one really understood what was going on with him.

"However, a friend who confided in members of the family hinted that he was recently initiated into a cult. The victim was a maternal cousin to Joseph and they have been living together without any misunderstanding.

"I know this because he even assisted her with some material in her mock WAEC exams. So we really don't know what went wrong. One of his friends had hinted us that he was recently initiated into a cult group; it was like an assignment given to him because they didn't quarrel the previous day.

"All we heard suddenly were shouts from the room and by the time we got there, she was already in a pool of her blood. He cut her head open with an axe and before we could get her to the hospital, she gave up and as I speak to you, Joe is still at large.

"The girl was just 19 years old and she was in Senior Secondary School writing her mock in preparation for her WAEC exams.

"We don't really know the devil that got into him (suspect). We had to bury her immediately at Ekepne here in Odukpani, because there is no need to keep her body," the source added.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, said "We are aware of the matter and we are seriously searching for the boy and I can assure you that he will be apprehended.

"Investigations are still ongoing as we are searching for the suspect," Ugbo said.

Source: http://nigeriabreakingnews.com.ng/suspected-cultist-butchers-cousin-in-initiation-killing-in-cross-river/