Unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of cult groups have killed no fewer than eight people in Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
This is coming as Governor Nyesom Wike said that inter-ethnic harmony and cooperation is critical to the development aspirations of the state.Wike said this yesterday at the 211th Convention of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide in Rumuche, Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
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A source in the community who pleaded anonymity said, some residents of the area, who had returned to Omoku following relative calm recently in the area have started fleeing again.
A resident who narrowly escaped the attack, Chief Ezegohuru Chukudi Eluozo, narrated that the incident caused panic and grounded Christmas celebration.
Eluozo disclosed that the killers specifically invaded palace road and two other streets in the area
The chief who said the attack was politically motivated, alleged that cultists were empowered recently by opposition party in the area during the rerun election.
Another source who pleaded anonymity narrated, “On the eve of Christmas around 9 pm, I was sitting out with one of friends who just came and invited me when we started hearing gunshots. As usual, people started running for safety. I ran into them as I was heading to my house.
“They were putting on military uniform and armed to the teeth. At the moment we don’t know the actual cause of the attack, but we heard that the cult boys are angry claiming that the state government settled a cult group and abandoned them. They said they will not stop attack until the government compensates them.”
The Police Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, said he was yet to get details on the incident.
The governor, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, noted that his administration’s desire to evenly develop the state could only materialise in an atmosphere of peace.
Just before the rerun election in River State and following sustained killings by armed groups, Governor Wike had proclaimed an amnesty programme during which guns and other dangerous weapons were surrendered.
The latest killings may mean that either the governor’s amnesty is proving less effective or that not all the fighters were
