Okenyi Kenechi
Reactions have continued to trail the beheading of two young men by a suspected rival cult group in Choba Community, Obio/Akpor local government.
Residents of the area woke up to the ugly scene of two severed heads dumped at the popular SDA junction on Tuesday while the body trunks were reportedly abandoned in a farm at Ohwipa.
An undergraduate student of the University of Port Harcourt, Godstime Chinedu Stephen, was also found dead in the premises of Dufil Nigeria limited Choba earlier this year.
The area has also experienced constant attacks by robbers of recent.
The Police on Tuesday said the beheaded duo were members of the Deybam cult group while their attackers were of the Islanders group.
However, some residents have reportedly begun fleeing the community over a feared reprisal attack from the cultists.
But reacting to the killings, the paramount ruler of Choba community, Eze Raymond Okorocha, on Wednesday, described the beheading of the two young men in the community as evil.
He said the revitalisation of attacks by criminal elements began after the state government disbanded the vigilance group in the area.
He said “the vigilance group in Choba was disbanded when the state made an announcement to disband youth activities in the state and implemented it. That was the beginning of the problems.
“The youths cashed in on the opportunity and started ravaging the environment with all kinds of evil, otherwise we have not been experiencing this type of evil in our land.”
The monarch said that the community has contacted the security agencies and the Neighborhood Watch recently set up by the state government over the incident, stating that they are partnering to put up measures to tackle insecurity in Choba. He called on security agencies to prevent impending reprisal attack.
However, the chairman of Police Community Relation in Choba Area Command, Moses Ahigbali, also condemned the alleged supremacy battle between the two rival gangs in which he noted led to the beheading of two persons.
Ahigbali advised residents and the general public to be careful of whom they go out with and what they do, lamenting that strange things have been happening in the community recently.
According to him “Every time, we hear different kinds of bad news in this area, the other time, somebody was shot dead at Rumuakara, another person was killed within the same area, how long can we continue like this?
He noted that the PCRC and the police Area command in Choba would work together to bring to an end the ugly menace.
