Two persons have been killed in clashes between rival cult groups at Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The first victim, Anselem Ifeanyi Omah, was reportedly killed on Tuesday evening, while a second victim, whose name was given simply as Paul, was gunned down Wednesday night.
Also, in the aftermath of the shooting, at least eight persons were arrested over the death of Anselem.
The chairman of the local government, Clement Odah, regretted the killing of Anselem. He said the area had been peaceful since he assumed office.
Odah, who addressed reporters on Wednesday evening on the killing of Anselem before last night’s shooting of the second victim, urged security agents to arrest and prosecute those involved in the killing.
He said: “This media briefing is because of the current diversion from the new Ohaukwu Local Government Area. When we came in, we were confronted by two kinds of insecurity: the external insecurity, that was the war between Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area and Agila in Benue State.
“That one, to the glory of God, has been settled once and for all by the coordinated efforts of the Governor David Umahi through the inter-boundary committee, headed by Deputy Governor Kelechi Igwe.
“For more than two years now, we have not had any other problem from that axis. We have been enjoying peace.
“The second is internal insecurity from some misguided youths who were deceived over time to believe there is something good in belonging to illegal societies.
“There are many of them, but the most prominent is the bad society that is being churned out by our universities, that is cultism. I launched a decisive war against cultism from the first day I came into office as the council chairman. It was difficult, but by the Grace of God, we succeeded.”
The local government chairman described the slain Anselem as a peaceful young man. He blamed cultists for his death.
Odah said: “Before yesterday (Wednesday), I had boasted in many fora that we had won the war against cultism. That was true, because I refused to compromise. We have made it known that we have zero tolerance for cultism. So, for me, it was a shock when we heard around 10 p.m to 11 p.m that one of our sons was gunned down here in Ezzamgbo. His name is Anselem Ifeany Omah.
“It was a very big surprise and shock. But we swung into action immediately, alerting and contacting security agents from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and all other security agents, including the neighbourhood watch and the local vigilantes.
“While we bear the pain of that avoidable loss, we have certain consolation: we made it clear to the security agents that this is one crime that must be investigated. We made it clear to security agents that we are not ready to mortgage the peace we have enjoyed over two years for anything. We made it clear that the Umahi administration is anchored on the platform of peace. We do not want to tolerate any other situation than absolute peace.
“All the culprits who are involved in that crime, over 50 per cent of them have been arrested. As at the last count, eight persons were in the police custody.
“I want to commend the DPO of Ohaukwu Police Division. The operation started immediately and in less than 10 hours, majority of the culprits were arrested. While their arrest was effected, a lot of illegal firearms with which the criminals operated were recovered.”
Odah said all the suspects had been transferred to the state headquarters in Abakaliki.
“All the culprits are now cooling off at the state headquarters. The matter is being handled by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and we will follow it up to ensure that the culprits are brought to book,” he said.
Police spokesperson Loveth Odah confirmed the story and the transfer of the suspects.
She promised to brief the media later today on the incident.