President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, condemned the resurgence of killings by cult groups in Rivers State, and ordered for increased community and law enforcement action against its escalation.
Responding to reports of the resurgence of cultism leading to loss of lives in Rivers State, Buhari called on law enforcement agencies to intensify their efforts to end the menace before it further escalates.
He urged quick and effective intervention by community and civic leaders in support of law enforcement efforts, in all such areas bedevilled by cultist attacks and inter-communal violence.
However, operatives of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested no fewer than 10 persons over the killing of eight people in Mgbuohia village of Rumuolumeni community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
This is as stakeholders in the Ogoni ethnic nationality of Rivers State have raised alarm over the incessant killing ongoing in various communities in the area.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt, yesterday, insisted that only three persons died during the clash between two rival cult groups in the community.
Omoni stated that preliminary investigation into the clash had shown that the fight resulted from a disagreement over who should collect a certain illegal levy in the community.
He confirmed the killings of seven persons in Kaani community in Khana Local Government Area of the state, last Sunday, but lamented the inabilities of the affected communities in that area to provide willing information’s to the police.
Omoni stated that those responsible for the deadly attacks were living in the affected communities, adding that residents deliberately refused to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of the culprits.
The police image-maker said: “The DPO in charge of the affected area in Khana said that it was a cult-related incident. The families of the deceased went away with their corpses without allowing the police to catch a glimpse of the bodies for investigation purposes.
“The communities are not willing to give information and that is our challenge. The boys, who perpetrated this act, live in the communities; the people know them. They (communities) should give us information so that we can fight these common enemies.”
Speaking on the incessant killings in Ogoniland, one of the stakeholders and a prominent indigene of the area, Chief Gani Topba, called on government at all levels to take the issue of security seriously, adding that those murdered were not members of any cult, but law-abiding citizens.
Topba said, “The level of killings in Ogoni has been very high and what happened on Monday was not new. The people were sleeping in their homes when the gunmen invaded the area and killed them.
“Government at all levels must know that security is their obligation and they should take it seriously. If they can stop the killings in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, they can also stop the killings in Ogoni. Government should know that Ogoni is part of Nigeria and also needs protection.”