Last week, police arrested 120 cultists alleged to be members of Black Axe group during the celebration of 777 in preparation for initiation into the group in the Ikorodu area of Lagos. Now, the Neo Black Movement of Africa (NBM) has denied having any relationship with Black Axe confraternity, saying the use of its logo by the group was an infringement on its copyright with the group set to take action..
Below is a statement by the National President of NBM, Engr. Felix Kupa.
NBM DISTANCES SELF FROM BLACK AXE CONFRATERNITY
…Thanks Police For Arresting 120 Suspected Black Axe Cultists
The leadership of the Neo-Black Movement (NBM) of Africa has distanced the group from the 120 suspected cultists arrested last weekend by the police in Lagos State.
Commending the force for promptly restoring law and order by the singular action, the movement decried linking it to the incident by way of a banner that accompanied the paraded suspects, which has since gone viral on the internet.
In a statement by its national president, Chief Felix Kupa, the group noted: “While we commend the Nigeria Police Force for the prompt enforcement of law and order, we are, however, constrained to make this public announcement in view of our noticing a possible infringement on our organisation’s copyright name and logo in the accompanying picture.
“For the non-discerning, the banner in the accompanying picture may seem as ours and therefore may have a damaging effect on our brand name in the eyes of those who are not able to tell the difference between the one in the picture and ours. We hereby restate, as always, that we are a law-abiding organisation registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as equally affirmed by courts in the land.
“We have no relationship with the Black Axe confraternity and did not have any approved ceremonies on the said date. The banner is not ours and none of our members is among the arrested persons.”
Consequently, the NBM has instructed its solicitors to press copyright infringement charges against those concerned to unravel the ulterior motive of the action.