Nine persons including a policeman have been killed by gunmen in three Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
At Rukpokwu town in Obio/Akpo Local Government Area, a police officer was shot dead by assailants operating in a white Hilux van.
The rifle of the police officer was also taken away by the assailants.
It was learnt that another six persons were reportedly killed, including a family of three in Erema community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state, while two persons were shot dead in Ozuaha in Ikwerre Local Government.
According to a source, a local vigilante group stormed a village in Erema and killed a mother, father and son in one family.
The source said that killings followed after their son, suspected to be a cultist, escaped from the group.
He said within Erema community, one other person was killed in a cult related crisis, bringing the number of the deaths to nine.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Ogoni confirmed killing of the police officer and that of the eight others adding that the command was on the track of the bandits.
Theportcitynews also gathered that the two brothers killed in Ozuoha in Ikwerre Local Government Area were staunch supporters of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State