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From: JUDEX OKORO, Calabar
Four persons have been reported killed following a bloody clash among three rival cult groups in Cross River State.
While three persons were killed in Ogoja as a result of cult war between the Vikins and the KKK in Abakpa, Ogoja Local Government Area in the northern part of the state, one person was reportedly hacked down along Target-Berckles Davis Streets in Calabar South during the battle for supremacy between Italian vs Vikins groups, over the weekend.
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that out of the three shot dead in Ogoaja were believed to be cult members from the community while one was a student of the Ogoja Campus of Cross River state University of Technology (CRUTECH).
An eye-witness, John Ogar, told our reporter killings which started over the weekend was ignited by one of the kingpins who inflicted machete cuts on a rival following a minor disagreement.
Vowing to retaliate, the other rival group re-grouped and went for a reprisal attack, leading to the killing of the boy who earlier inflicted machete cuts on one of the members of the rival cult about midnight of Saturday.
The account said this development let to series of attacks and subsequent killing of another cultist that same night.
Worried by this, the youths caused panic in the community which has never had any history of violence of that magnitude.
Angered by the trend, it was learnt, the youths of the community whose call to the cult groups to lay down their arms fell on deaf ears, rose up against the warring factions.
This resulted into a mob action and killing of one person on Sunday morn and burning down houses alleged to be habouring cultists and their cohorts
Director-General of State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA Mr. John Inaku, who assessed the extent of damage revealed that about 12 houses were touched while household property of some of the identified cultists were removed and burnt.
Mr. Inaku said that his office was in synergy with other disaster stakeholders such as the police.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Cross River state Police Command, Ms Irene Ugbo, said: “We are aware of the incident and some people have been arrested in connection with the alleged clash.”
