Two dead in Bayelsa cult clash

The Bayelsa Police Command on Monday said a teenager died during a cult clash on Saturday in Amarata area of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.

Asinim Butswat, the Command’s spokesperson, confirmed that only one person died in the clash contrary to reports that two teenagers died.

He said that the second person died at a robbery scene.

“The other teenager was killed through mob action as he attempted to rob some residents; the victim’s action was resisted by the people who clubbed him to death,” Mr. Butswat said.

He said that the command had intensified patrol in the affected area to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

Some residents had earlier told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that fight for supremacy between two rival cult groups claimed the lives of two teenagers.

The incident threw the area into pandemonium as residents watched helplessly the fierce battle between the rival cult groups.

Daniel Oguebo, who resides along Ebis Mechanic Road, Amarata, said the cult groups used guns, cutlasses, axes and other dangerous weapons during the clash.

According to Mr. Oguebo, the clash lasted for about an hour without police or security agencies responding to distress calls.

He said that the clash left the two teenagers, aged 18 and 19, dead through gunshots received during the bloody clash.

He said that one of the victims, identified simply as Paul, was shot by a rival cult group when he allegedly led his group on a reprisal for an earlier attack on their group.

Paul was said to have been shot in the abdomen and died at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, in Yenagoa where he was taken for medical attention after the incident.

According to Mr. Oguebo, the second victim, whose name could not be ascertained as of time of filing this report, was also said to have died during the clash.

He said their remains had since been deposited at the morgue of the FMC.

(NAN)