Tina Amanda
About thirty suspects have been arrested following a raid in some brothels along Azikiwe street Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, by the combined team of Police operatives drawn from Operation Department Octopus Strike Force, Military Personnel and Vigilance group on Monday night.
According to the report, the raid resulted from a cult clash between suspected Junior Vikings (JVC) and Deygbam cult groups in the area.
A source disclosed that the suspected cultists had engaged themselves in a gun battle around the Ikoku flyover axis of Ikwerre Road, Diobu, Port Harcourt, over an issue of supremacy and territorial control while injuring many passersby as well as robbed some residents in the area.
Our source said that security personnel acting on credible intelligence swooped on the hideouts of the fleeing suspected cultists including brothels and ‘cultism lane’ off Azikiwe street.
Our correspondent, who was on the ground, reports that over twenty patrol vans and three buses were used in conveying the arrested suspects.
Our correspondent could not independently verify if there was any casualty as of Monday night but saw many persons injured as a result of the clash.
Recall that penultimate Saturday, a combined team of the Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) raided brothels along Azikiwe where fifty underage girls forced into prostitution were rescued.
In response, the Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said the command is raiding black spots and criminal hideouts in the area.
