Residents flee community as rival cultists kill five in Rivers

No fewer than five persons were feared dead during a battle for supremacy that ensued between rival cult groups in Egbeda community, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
A source in the community told newsmen that the Icelanders cult and the Greenlanders cult groups were locked in war over who takes charge of the community.

The source, who described how the cultists went on rampage, killing and removing the head their victims, said that about five people were killed.

He said that the head of one of their victims was pinned on a stick at the community’s market square.

“Several people have been killed now in the community. I saw about five people. The boys are killing and cutting off people’s heads. There is fear in the community, so people are moving out,” the source said.

A resident of the area, simply identified as Uche, said he was going to stay with his relatives in Port Harcourt.

Uche said the shooting started on Wednesday night, adding that the rival cultists moved freely in the community, in the absence of security operatives.

He also said that residents who had fled their homes were wondering “aimlessly” in neighbouring communities, calling on the government for swift intervention.

Uche said, “There is panic in the community. I don’t know the actual number of people killed, but they have killed more than five people since the incident started.

“We are calling on the government and security operatives to intervene. Our people are suffering; right now, they are in other communities.”

It was  learnt that most senior officers of the Rivers State Police Command had gone out of the state due to the burial of the late Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Francis Odesanya.

The spokesperson for the Command, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said he would comment on the situation on Saturday (today).