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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
There was pandemonium in Ibaa community, in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, as gunmen suspected to be factional members of the disbanded local vigilance group, OSPAC, shot dead four members of rival group in the wee hours of Friday.
A native of the community, who craved for anonymity, attributed the killing to a battle of supremacy between the factional OSPAC groups.
The community source claimed that the disbanded OSPAC factions have been flexing muscles over who controls the collection of illegal levy known as ‘matching ground.’
According to the source, members of the local vigilance group are dreaded unrepentant cultists, whose nefarious activities in Ibaa community and its environs, have posed a serious threat.
Report gathered by Saturday Sun, said that some natives had already fled the community as at 8am on Friday, for fear of escalation of violence.
It would be recalled that two persons claimed to be members of one of the factions of disbanded OSPAC, were killed in Ibaa in February, 2022, although Police disclosed that only a person was killed.
Meanwhile, Rivers State Police Command said two persons were killed in the attack.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), disclosed this, adding that the Commissioner of Police has deployed six patrol teams to restore normalcy in the area.
