Bayelsa: Five Killed In Gang War

The Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Mr Hilary Okpara, has confirmed the killing of five persons in what he called cult related war that occurred last Sunday at about 8.30 pm.
Mr Okpara said although no arrest had been made, full investigations into the incident had begun in earnest, vowing that the perpetrators of the heinous crime would be found and punished adequately according to the law of the land.
On Sunday night five youths were  killed at Edepie axis of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by suspected cultists who invaded the area in an unmarked black Jeep vehicle.
An eye witness account, one Miss Sarah, a shop owner told The Tide that the assailants who are suspected to be members of a cult group,  at about 830pm, besieged a popular drinking bar in the area and fired gun shots at the youths sipping their bottles of beer.
Residents of the area scampered for safety , while a retinue of drinking bars and shops in the area immediately closed down as tension mounted in the vicinity; as the hoodlums continued shooting on the air as they made good their escape.
It was gathered that two of the slain   youths simply identified as Apri and Cletus  are natives of Agudama-Epie.
The Tide was also told that the suspected cultists went away with  the corpse  of one of the killed youths in their vehicle.
Remains of the youths have been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre,Yenagoa.
Meanwhile, Chief Sarike Dickson, one of the governorship aspirants in the November 19 PDP primaries in the state, has said that the killing was to intimidate his supporters by agents of the state government.
Addressing his supporters on Monday, while opening his campaign office, Chief Dickson, a serving member of the House of Representatives noted that when he came to power, security, empowerment and development of the rural areas would be his priorities.
He thanked the people for defying threats to their lives and intimidation  and graced the occasion, saying that his restoration team would put smiles on the faces of the people  if  voted into office.
He alleged that the administration in the state had failed to satisfy the aspirations of the people.

L-R: Rivers State Deputy Governor, Engr Tele Ikuru, Secretary to the State Government, Mr George Feyii and President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr Ledum Mitee, during MOSOP’s protest march to Government House, Port Harcourt, Monday.