Fresh cult clash claims two lives in Akwa Ibom community

Fresh cult clash between De Balm and Iceland confraternities, at the weekend, has claimed two persons in Inen Ikot Eteye Village, OrukAnam Local Council of Akwa Ibom State.

It was gathered that the incident, which occurred in the early hours of the day, was terrible as members of De Balm cult group caught another member of Iceland rival group in their family compound cutting him to pieces while family members and the entire village fled for safety.

An eyewitness, Mr. Okon Udo Idung, said the second victim, simply identified as “Osaboy”, who is a member of the community vigilante group, was caught near the scene of the incident where the cultists gave him several machete cuts and dismembered the body, leaving him in a pool of his blood.

He said: “Osaboy” lives in the neighbouring village but met his untimely death that early morning as he rushed to carry his wife to the popular Urua Awak market when the hoodlums descended on him.

“Osaboy” was not spared by the cultists just to hide their identity because he rammed into their operations, knowing that the victim can identify them for possible arrest.

“They caught him after the first person was killed. We heard when he was shouting for help but the cultists did not listen. They killed him on the spot just to hide their Identity and escape arrest.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer for Akwa Ibom State, CSP Frederick N-Nudam, said that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in OrukAnam had confirmed the cult clash occasioned by the killing of two persons in Inen Ikot Eteye.

He said that the Commissioner of Police, Amiengheme Andrew, had mobilised officers from the anti-kidnapping squad to join forces with the anti-cultism squad to restore normalcy in the area.

“I called the DPO of OrukAnam and he confirmed that there was an incident of cult clash in the area. But as soon as the incident occurred, the Commissioner of Police mobilised officers from anti-cultism and anti-kidnapping squad to join forces with Operation Flush that is stationed there and the area has been subjected to serious surveillance.

“As we speak, some suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident and we hope that police would be able to bring the situation to normalcy,” he said.