Rampaging gunmen, suspected to be cultists, have killed a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Godspower Ayodu, and six other persons in Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
According to community sources, the gunmen, who wore masks, went to the ancient town on Friday evening, moving from house to house, killing innocent people.
The source said the gunmen shot indiscriminately for several hours on Friday night, adding that they later fled when men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, engaged them in a shootout. The gunmen were said to have regrouped, yesterday afternoon, to continue the shooting at the market.
The Chairman of the local government area, Mr Austin Ayamadu, who condemned the incident, appealed to residents to remain calm, assuring that security men had taken charge of the area. Ayamadu said the gunmen went from one street to the other shooting before security men swung into action.
The council chairman described the unfortunate incident as condemnable, while calling on the police and other security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act and prosecute them, to serve as a deterrent to others.
Ahiamadu noted that the inability to arrest the killers and hoodlums would embolden other criminals to even commit worse crimes in the LGA and other parts of the state and beyond.
The council boss also urged the people of the LGA, especially Omoku, to remain calm and be law abiding, stressing that a combined team of policemen and operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) had commenced special patrol of the LGA.
The Chairman, who could not confirm the death toll, said some persons died in the incident.
“Unknown gunmen invaded Omoku and started by killing an elder of the APC and some other people were also killed. The figure I cannot immediately say because of the security situation, but it is more than five”, he said.
Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, who confirmed the development, said it was a clash between rival cult groups, stressing that security men were on top of the situation.
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