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The Enugu State Police Command has arrested three male suspects in separate intelligence-led operations carried out across the state in January, recovering firearms, live ammunition, and controlled substances including crystal methamphetamine in operations that security officials described as part of a sustained campaign to dismantle criminal networks embedded within local communities.
The arrests, spanning operations conducted nearly two weeks apart in different parts of the state capital, resulted in the detention of individuals linked to the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, one of Nigeria’s most notorious secret cults, as well as a third suspect found in possession of hard drugs during a broader raid on suspected criminal hideouts. Command spokesman SP Daniel Ndukwe disclosed the details in a statement released on Sunday in Enugu, outlining the sequence of events, items recovered, and the identities of those currently in custody awaiting arraignment. The first operation, carried out on January 19 by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Tactical Squad, targeted a location in the Awkunanaw axis of Enugu South Local Government Area following what police described as credible intelligence about cult activity in the area. Officers detained Emmanuel Mba, 31, and Nnam Onukwube, 35, at the scene.
During initial questioning, both suspects allegedly confessed to membership of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity.
The more significant disclosure came from the interrogation of Mba, who was identified as the head and principal executioner of the confraternity’s operations in Enugu South LGA as of December 2025. His admission, if upheld in court, places him at the apex of a criminal structure responsible for coordinating the group’s violent activities in one of Enugu’s most densely populated local government areas.
Items recovered during the January 19 operation included one pump action gun, one locally fabricated Beretta-type pistol, 31 live cartridges, a large wrap of a substance suspected to be cannabis sativa, one HP laptop computer, and one motorcycle. The combination of lethal firearms, live ammunition, and personal electronics suggested an organized operation rather than opportunistic criminality, and the laptop’s presence raised investigative questions about possible use for coordination or record-keeping within the group. The second operation followed twelve days later, on January 31, when police operatives conducted raids on suspected criminal hideouts in the Agbani axis of the state. The sweep initially produced eight detainees, all of whom were subjected to preliminary screening and investigation.
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Of the eight, seven were released after initial inquiries found insufficient basis to hold them further. One suspect, Monday Ezeani, 32, was retained after a search revealed he was in possession of a dried substance suspected to be cannabis sativa alongside 39 pellets of crystal methamphetamine, known locally as “Mkpuru-mmiri.” The substance, which has driven a deepening narcotics crisis across southeastern Nigeria in recent years, carries severe penalties under Nigerian drug control laws.
Ndukwe confirmed that Ezeani remained in custody as investigations continued and that the command’s findings would form the basis of his eventual arraignment.
Mkpuru-mmiri has emerged as one of the most destabilizing substances affecting youth populations across Nigeria’s southeast in recent years. Psychologists and social welfare organizations working in Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, and Ebonyi states have documented its association with violent behavior, mental health deterioration, and accelerating recruitment into criminal gangs and cult groups. Law enforcement agencies across the region have made its suppression a stated priority, with the Enugu command having repeatedly recovered the substance during operations targeting criminal hideouts over the past year.
The Supreme Vikings Confraternity, whose members are colloquially known as “Seadogs,” is among several cult organizations that have maintained a presence in Nigerian tertiary institutions and urban neighborhoods since the proliferation of such groups from the 1980s onward. Originally founded in the University of Port Harcourt, the group has evolved from campus fraternities into street-level criminal networks in many urban areas, engaging in extortion, armed robbery, violent initiations, and clashes with rival groups including the Black Axe Confraternity.
Enugu State has seen recurring incidents involving the group. In December 2025, the same Anti-Cultism Tactical Squad dismantled a cell that had been forcibly initiating victims into the Supreme Vikings Confraternity at a forest location near Iva Valley in Enugu North LGA, recovering a locally made pistol, cutlasses, and initiation items. In earlier operations across the state in July and August 2025, police arrested multiple suspected Vikings members linked to armed robbery incidents in Ezeagu and Udi local government areas.
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The January detentions fit a pattern of operations that Commissioner of Police Mamman Giwa has made central to his administration’s approach to public safety in the state. Since assuming command, Giwa has repeatedly directed his officers to adopt zero-tolerance positions toward cultism, armed robbery, and narcotics trafficking, deploying specialized tactical units across different local government areas on a rotational basis to prevent criminal networks from establishing stable operating zones.
Ndukwe quoted the commissioner’s latest public assurance, in which Giwa pledged that the command would continue to pursue individuals involved in violent and drug-related crimes without respite.
“The Commissioner of Police has reassured the public of the command’s firm resolve to protect lives and property,” Ndukwe said, adding a direct warning from command leadership to those still operating outside the law. “Individuals involved in armed robbery and related crimes, cultism, and illicit drug activities are advised to either repent or face the full weight of the law.” The command’s emergency contact lines for citizen tips remained active, with officials directing the public to report suspicious activities through the command’s control room or the state’s Command-and-Control Centre.
All three suspects currently in custody were undergoing further investigation as of Sunday. Arraignment dates had not been announced, with police indicating that charges would follow the conclusion of internal investigative procedures in accordance with applicable provisions of the Nigeria Police Act and relevant drug and firearms legislation.
