Rivers Police Confirm Cultists Attack on Residents

Pandemonium has ensued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday, after hoodlums invaded some streets in the area, attacked residents and robbed passersby and shop owners.

Reports have it that the gang, numbering about 50, ransacked Eagle Island, Timber Street and Echue stretch of Illabouchi, all densely populated areas of the metropolis, with machetes, as residents scampered for safety.

It was also gathered that the hoodlums were members of a suspected cult whose member was reportedly hacked to death last weekend by a faction of the group in the Mile 2 axis of Diobu.

An eyewitness, Peter Rowland, said residents ran into their homes and remained indoors for hours, as the cult members brandished machetes and other weapons while searching for their rivals.

At about 12.30pm, policemen saw in about five vans from various tactical units patrolling the vicinity.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident.

She said, “We are aware of the disturbance; it may be a show of supremacy by cult groups. But we have commenced investigation to get to the root of the matter.”

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, dismissed claims that a life was lost during the melee.