Two Killed As Cult Groups Clash In Rivers Community
Edith CHUKU
It was a black Saturday in Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, following the killing of about two persons at Berebabo axis of Gambia Street, Mile 1 Diobu.
The sad incident which happened in the night of January 7, was as a result of a clash between two cult groups, TNN learnt.
This has caused great panic in the area, and heightened tension over fears of reprisal and counter reprisal by the two rival cult groups.
A resident who gave his name simply as ‘Oga Emma’ told TNN in an interview that, “what happened is that one group, that is cult group catch the leader of another cult group that night, people say they used machete and cut him seriously, that they gave him cut all over his body and he died.
“After that, they went to a house where another member of the one they have already killed was living, but when they got there, he was not around, they became angry and they set fire in the place, it is that fire that killed the elderly man, so, two people died, that is what happened.”
On the current situation in the area, he said, “people are afraid, some people ran away from their house, some removed their children and wives from the house, this Diobu is rough, so any small thing like this, fear will be everywhere, people will run.”
Emma appealed to the police to restore calm in the area, saying, “police is trying, but they have to do more, they should patrol often, these boys are seriously disturbing in this Diobu, they are, please, we are begging them, they should always move around, this is a very bad thing, we are begging.”
TNN gathered that investigation is on-going and that the commissioner of police has deployed tactical teams to the area, to ensure no further breakdown of law and order, as well as arrest other members of the cult group.
Meanwhile, the cultists fled the scene before the arrival of officers from Divisional Police Headquarters Mile 1.
As at the time of filing this report, the spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe Koko, was yet to respond to text messages sent to her mobile line on the matter.
