Nine killed in Calabar bloody cult war

Nine killed in Calabar bloody cult war

       By Eje peter /Mudiaga Affe

A renewed cult clash between members of Vikings and Black Axe has claimed nine lives in Calabar, Cross River State within three days.

The fight between the two cult groups, which started on Sunday night and continued late Monday to the early hours of Tuesday, was said to be in reprisal for an earlier attack on a member of one of the groups in March.

There has been heavy security presence in streets of Calabar since the renewed fight started on Sunday.

Southern City News learnt from a source on Tuesday that the renewed fight was sparked by the gruesome murder of one of the cult members identified as Agbani at the Ediba-Qua area of the metropolis on Sunday.

A reprisal, according to the source, continued on Monday as two other members of a group were also gruesomely murdered.

An eyewitness, Joseph Akpan, said he counted at the least four other corpses of suspected cultists along Marian Road in Calabar on Monday night.

Akpan, who gave details of the other deaths, specifically said two suspected cultists were killed in Ekondo Street, one along Mayne Avenue and one at Wilkie Street in Calabar-South.

“I also learnt that four others were gunned down at Atekong Drive and close to Apples along Marian Road in Calabar Municipal,” he said.

Another source, Raymond Ikechukwu, said a victim, simply identified as Emma, was also killed around Ediba Road by Okon Inok Street in Calabar municipality.

He said, “We were here this morning (Tuesday) when a group of guys started chasing Emma (one of the victims) from up Ediba and they later caught him around Ediba by Okon Inok Street, where they mercilessly murdered the guy. Emma was a tiller.

“I wonder why he went and put his hands in such dirty act by associating with people who do not have anything to offer. Just imagine how he has wasted his life. It was after Emma was killed that the Police arrived the scene chasing some culprits, which left the Marian Market in disarray,” he said.

In her reaction, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, who only acknowledged the death of one person as a result of the clash, however, said the police was on top of the situation.

“Actually, the clash between the two rivalry cult groups occurred. The police are on top of the situation. But only one person was reportedly killed,” she said