Guns: Six shot dead in cult clashes in Delta State

By Jethro Ibileke

There is palpable fear and anxiety among residents of Asaba, capital of Delta State, as rampaging hoodlums suspected to be cultists now lay siege on the town.

It was gathered that residents now live in fear, as no fewer six persons were reportedly killed in a renewed cult clashes between Monday and Tuesday morning in different locations in the state capital.

The latest victims who were suspected to be members of Black Axe Confraternity, were believed to have been killed in retaliatory attacks.

One of the victims, an Asaba-based Surveyor simply identified as Ifeanyi, was mowed down at about 7pm on Monday, at a street opposite the Stephen Keshi Stadium, along the popular Nnebisi Road.

Another victim, a middle-aged man who’s identity could not be ascertained, was reportedly beheaded at the early hours of Tuesday.

His severed head was deposited at Otuogwu area in the metropolis, while the body was said to have be recovered where it was staked behind Oshimili South Council Secretariat.

It was however gathered that the renewed cult war has forced many youths in the town to temporarily relocate, perhaps pending when the attacks would abate.

In a related incident, a former chairman of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Oshimili South chapter, simply identified as Sanchino, was reportedly shot dead by suspected assassins.

As at the time of filing this report, not much was known about his killers and for what reason he might have been killed.

When contacted, the Acting Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Bright Edafe, said he was aware that three persons were killed at various locations in Asaba between Monday and Tuesday.

“The information we have here confirmed three killed and it is cult-related matter. The police are on of the situation,” he stated.