A suspected cultist, identified simply as Kazeem, has been killed by some persons identified as his rivals during a masquerade festival held at Oke Ola Community in Osogbo, Osun State.

The incident happened on Sunday, and residents of the community have not been able to get out of the panic.

However, some policemen have been deployed to restore order in the community.

Some residents of the area who witnessed the violent confrontation between the suspected cultists said they were following a masquerade before the clash broke out.

One of them disclosed that Kazeem was shot in the head by a suspected cultist, who had followed a masquerade to the area.

Another resident said the clash that claimed Kazeem’s life occurred around 7 pm on Sunday when some men suspected to be members of the Eiye Confraternity, moving with a masquerade, engaged a rival group in Oke Ola community in bloody clashes.

“From where I was, I could see what was going on easily. One Tajudeen from Oke Baale, a leader of the Eiye Confraternity, and his men followed a masquerade to Oke Ola when the incident happened.

“The group led by Tajudeen engaged another cult group based in Oke Ola here in bloody clashes, and during the fight, Kazeem was shot in the head. He died on the spot.

“Some other people also got injured because they used all manner of weapons during the fight. But that Tajudeen was mentioned repeatedly as the person who fired the shot. The incident happened about 7 pm on Sunday,” she said.

She added that the situation was later brought under control when armed police operatives from the Anti-Cultism Unit, responding to a distress call from the area, arrived at the scene.

The lady also said, “Many of us living in this area ran inside to avoid being hit. The arrival of some anti-cultism policemen restored order. Those cultists ran away when policemen arrived.

“The masquerade that brought them didn’t have police escorts. A police vehicle carried the corpse of the deceased away, and they have stationed men in our area since then. You can still see them around, but we are all still apprehensive.”

When contacted on Monday, the spokesperson of the Osun Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident.

Ojelabi, who said operatives had launched a manhunt for those involved in the crime, warned that the police would not tolerate any act of lawlessness in the state.