Cultists gun down two in Rivers State

Two young men suspected to be cultists were on Tuesday shot to death by members of a rival cult group in Omoku, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

An eye witness account revealed that the incident which occurred in Omoku town last night, along Ahoada Road, was carried out by some gunmen who specifically went for their targets and gunned them down.

According to the eye witness, “The incident happened around 11.pm, last night. Some young men shot sporadically for a while to scare aware people from the area before moving to get their targets. They approached the house and found their way inside and shot the two young men and escaped unchallenged.”

He continued: “They shot randomly as they made their way out of the area. We can’t say for sure what caused them to attack these young men. There hasn’t been any cult clash of recent. So, we were taken aback when we heard gunshots last night.”

Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the Rivers State Police Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident, saying that the remains of the victims have been taken away by the police and deposited in a mortuary which was not disclosed.

The police spokesman stated: “The Police can confirm that what happened at Omoku is a cult-related incident. The bodies have been taken to the mortuary. We have commenced investigation into the matter.”

The state police image maker said that all the different operational units of the Rivers State Police Command have started trailing the killers of these young men, adding that policemen have been positioned in strategic areas in the town to make sure there was no reprisal attack that might lead to a breakdown of law and order in the area.

An ex-militant leader in the state, Chief Johnson Ejimba, also known as Don Wani, condemned the attack, saying that it was cruel and uncalled for.

Chief Ejimba, therefore, called on all cult members who have not embraced the state government amnesty programme to do so before it became too late for them.

“It is in our collective interest for our youths to embrace the current amnesty being given by the state government. We are crying that our youths don’t have jobs: how can investors come to the state if our youths continue to fight themselves?”he pleaded