We’re A Prayer Group, We Don’t Carry Weapons, Ombatse Insists

  

The Eggon militia group, Ombatse, yesterday reiterated that it was not a cult group and also denied operating shrines in Nasarawa State.

Instead, Ombatse said it is a prayer group, consisting of Christians, Muslims and heathens just as they claimed Baba Alakyo, widely referred to as the chief priest of the group, is only a prayer leader.
“There is no shrine; I am emphatic that there is no shrine. Babalakyo is a leader of the prayer group. Babalakyo is an herbalist. That is what he is,” legal adviser of the group, Barrister Zamani Zachary Allumaga said at the ongoing commission of inquiry on the May 7 killing of security operatives in Alakyo. The massacre was attributed to members of the group, who laid siege on the security operatives as they went to effect the arrest of Baba Alakyo.


Barrister Allumaga, who was cross-examined by counsels representing various groups and communities, as well as Mrs. Funso Lawal representing the panel, maintained that the group was not responsible for the death of the policemen and State Security Service (SSS) operatives in Alakyo village.

“We in Ombatse group are only there to pray. We do not carry weapons. We have no business with humans,” he said, adding that Ombatse in Eggon means “time has come for prayers.”
In a related development, Ombatse announced on Monday that it has suspended its activities; albeit temporarily, pending the out-come of the ongoing investigation.
The group also berated the state governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura for failing to go after the perpetrators of the ambush and by extension, the murder of about 74 officers and men of the police and SSS