There have been a series of cult-related killings in Ekwulobia, which heightened fears of a resurgence in campus cultism and street-level drug trafficking that plagued the area in recent years.

At least two persons have been killed and a yet-to-be-confirmed number of vehicles burnt as yet-to-be-identified gunmen went on rampage in Ekwulobia in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

According to one of the videos of the incident on social media, eyewitnesses said one of the victims was shot dead inside a shop along the road while the second victim was shot dead inside a tricycle, popularly known as Keke Napep on the road.

“Jesus Christ! They just shot someone here. See the person inside Keke. Another person was inside and they just went there and shot him dead,” a woman said in the video.

In another video, residents of the area who were seen running for their lives as gunshots ravaged the area with smoke from burning vehicles, said one of the burning vehicles belongs to the Anambra State Vigilante Group (AVG).

The fleeing residents said, “This is happening in Ekwulobia now. Are you guys seeing what is happening here? These people are mean. They are setting vehicles on fire. They just set AVG's White Sienna on fire. They are well prepared.”

There have been a series of cult-related killings in Ekwulobia, which heightened fears of a resurgence in campus cultism and street-level drug trafficking that plagued the area in recent years.

The killings came amid a wave of public outrage over the brutal killing of a young man, believed to be a student of the nearby Federal Polytechnic, Oko, in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, who was gunned down in broad daylight by suspected cultists on June 21, 2025.

Unidentified gunmen had also attacked Oko community near the Federal Polytechnic, killing at least four persons suspected to be students, injuring about seven others, and kidnapping two others.

Residents and student groups have since demanded urgent action from the police and Anambra State government, citing the increasingly unsafe environment in and around Oko, including Ekwulobia, towns with a large student population.

However, SaharaReporters’ efforts to get the comments of the Anambra State Police Command on the ongoing shooting in Ekwulobia on Wednesday failed as the Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, did not respond to a message sent to him on WhatsApp, his main means of communication, as of the time of filing this report.