From Joseph Obukuta(The New Diplomat’s N|Delta Correspondent)
Tension is brewing in Inen community in the Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State after rampaging cultists wrecked havoc on the community reportedly leaving it with tale of tears and deaths.
Oruk Anam Local Government Area of the state have been notorious for rivalry cult clashes in recent time.
It was gathered that in April, according to police report, three persons were killed in the same enclave following alleged clash by two rival cult groups.
Sources disclosed that trouble started brewing on Saturday following a fresh clash between the Debamand Iceland confraternities and another cult group. The town has become a ghost of itself as residents are fleeing in droves for fear of reprisal attack, a resident said.
It was learnt that by the time the dust which the clash raised settled, two corpse laid lifeless while others who sustained machet injuries were hospitalised.
One of the victims whose corpses was reportedly found on a narrow bush path leading to one of the neighbourhoods on Sunday, was reportedly among those invited by the police for interrogation when the cult groups clashed two months ago, allegedly killing six persons in the community.
A source who simply gave her name as Madam Nko Etukudoh, while giving a graphic details of the incident said: “We woke up (Sunday) morning to see two corpses on the footpath leading to another village. On inspection, we discovered that it was our brother, Ufot Johnson-Uwah, also known in the community as A’Raggae, and one other, Papa Lucky, from the Etok Inen village. We were shocked.
“A’Raggae was lying down naked with his boots on his legs. Blood was oozing out from his nose. Papa Lucky was lying down with his clothes intact.”
She said that the elder brother of A’Raggae, Iboro, along with the village head, called the police in Oruk Anam, who rushed to evacuate the corpses to the mortuary.
Etukudoh explained that A’Raggae was a youth activist and socialite before he was engaged by the Al Madal Construction Company, which was handling road construction in the community, while Lucky was a speedboat helmsman ferrying foodstuffs and passengers from the community to the Bonny Island in Rivers State.
Another source who preferred anonymity, said A’Raggae was the Chairman of the Inen Vigilante Task Force and worked to secure the area against thieves before the construction firm engaged him as chief security officer.
“After the killing of two soldiers on this road last year, the company handed over security at the site to A’Raggae, but last month, one of the persons killed during a cult clash was a company employee, who was cut into pieces. Today, the chief security officer of the company and another person have been killed,” the source said.
However, when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Nnudam Fredrick, who confirmed the incident, said information from the Divisional Police Officer of Orukanam on the clash was sketchy, adding that only one person was killed.
“I have just received sketchy information from the DPO of Orukanam confirming that there was a clash between two cults and that one person was killed,” Fredrick stated.
He said the command would soon dispatch police personnel to apprehend and bring the culprits to justice and restore normalcy to the community.
