The orgy of violence which have enveloped Rivers State since the build-up to the general elections, took a fresh turn at the weekend as four persons were killed in Eleme and Okrika Local Government Areas of the state.
Two persons were attacked by gunmen in Okrika, including a man that was killed in his car and taken away by his assailants.
The incident, which was said to have happened at about 8pm, shocked indigenes of the area, even as another victim fell to the bullets of gunmen in his house in the same Okrika.
A source, who expressed shock over the attacks on Saturday, explained that the second victim was killed inside his residence, his body was found floating on a river.
In Ebubu community, Eleme Local Government Area, two persons were killed on Sunday during a clash between two rival cult groups.
Though no reason has been ascertained to be the cause of the clash, the rival cult groups had fought each other with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
Some members of the community had deserted the place in order to avoid being caught in the middle of the clash that took place around 8pm and continued till the early hours of Monday.
In another development, the All Progressives Congress in the state, has alleged that the killings of its members have continued without abating.
The state chapter of the APC condemned the latest killings involving two persons in Okrika Local Government Area.
Calling for an immediate end to the killings, the Greater Together Campaign Organisation of the governorship candidate of the APC in the last election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, warned that the ugly act could have adverse effect if nothing was done to stop it.
A statement signed by the Director of Communications of the campaign outfit, Ibim Semenitari, sought explanation why those behind the killings were interested in turning the state to a battlefield.
“We are calling for proactive steps by security agencies to curtail the ability of the perpetrators and their possible sponsors to hit their targets. We want to know the rationale behind the post-election killings. If they killed APC members on election days, why have they continued to kill after the polls?
“Since the discredited Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State, killers have swarmed on Ahoada East, hitting down their targets. Recently, Messrs Chigba Apollos and Chiezule German, both members of the APC in the area, were shot dead in Ibarikpo Town by gunmen. Ibarikpo is in Ahoada East Ward 13.
“In a similar bizarre manner, on Thursday, April 15, Mr. Saturday Wakama, was killed and his corpse taken away. Wakama, a popular APC member in Okrika, was a member of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, and had championed campaigns for a riverine governor in Rivers State,” the statement reads.
The campaign outfit, however, expressed surprise that security agencies had not been able to arrest any of the killers or kidnappers so that they could be punished for their atrocities.
“This is an indictment on the agencies of state saddled with the responsibility of tackling law breakers. An arrest and prosecution will send strong warning to these outlaws and possibly stem the tide of growing murder of APC members in Rivers State,” Peterside’s campaign group added.
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