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Five Feared Dead as Cultists Clash in A’Ibom
Okon Bassey in Uyo
Five persons have reportedly been killed and others injured in cults clashes said to involved two rival confraternities, the Vickings and the Mafians in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State.
The incident, which occurred Tuesday evening, took place around the Ibom Plaza axis of the city centre and adjoining streets.
Eyewitness said the fracas, started at about 6:30 pm and lasted for two hours, before security operatives including detachment of soldiers arrived to restore normalcy.
A tricycle operator, Aniekan Akpainyang, who spoke to journalists, linked the cause of the violence to a minor disagreement at a betting shop, along Ikot Ekpene road by the plaza area, saying the incident triggered the old animosity between the rival groups.
“One cultist, a member of the Vickings confraternity had placed a bet to the tune of N5,000, but could not pay after he lost. The shop attendant asked him to pay or drop his phone, but he refused and, instead call his gang members on phone, who came, pounced on the attendant and raided the shop,” he said.
According to him, the resultant reprisal attack from the camp of the booking man, said to belong to the Mafians group, led to a free for all, with three persons killed. Two at the Plaza area and one at the Ikpa road junction, close to the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) town campus, while two others, had earlier been killed at Okokon Etuk street, few meters to the Uyo City centre.
However, the Police confirmed the crisis in a statement issued yesterday by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Odiko Macdon, but could not specify the casualty figures.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), at about 6:30pm, the Command received information about a cult clash at the Plaza.
“While the Commissioner of Police, CP, Olatoye Durosinmi, condemned in strong terms, the unfortunate incident which caused palpable fear among the good people of the state, the CP has reminded those involved in this dastardly act to note that the ban on cultism in the state is still in force and that henceforth, perpetrators of such acts will be apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with extant laws.
“The CP has therefore, called on residents to go about their lawful duties without fear of molestation as the Command has emplaced adequate security at the Plaza and around the state, throughout the Yuletide and beyond,” the statement said.