At least three persons have lost their lives while two others were abducted when gunmen suspected to be cultists invaded the Ubeta community in the Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The gunmen reportedly struck on Wednesday, ransacking the community in what appeared to be a reprisal attack.
It was gathered that the attackers had earlier stormed the same community on Tuesday and abducted two shop owners.
Confirming the incident to newsmen on Thursday, the paramount ruler of the community, Chief Million Jonathan, said the attacks had been recurring in the community without any effort by the government or security operatives to end it.
According to him, “I was at home when the news came in the morning that three boys were killed. I have investigated and up till now, I don’t know those who did it. According to the information I received, some of them (deceased) are cultists. Three of them were killed but I don’t know what led to the killing.
“Three days ago, they kidnapped two people who have shops close to each other. They were in their shops selling when these bad boys with guns came that evening and kidnapped them. Up till now, we don’t know if they are dead or still alive. One of the shop owners is Chimezie Nebu.”
He called on the government and security agencies to investigate and intervene in the repeated killings and criminal activities in the community.
“I want the government to come to our aid so that all these killings and kidnappings will stop. These things (activities) have been going on for years now.
“These boys (hoodlums) took oath sometime and we didn’t hear much of these killings again. I don’t know why they have started now.”
Continuing, Chief Jonathan said, “People in most of our communities here, not only Ubeta, have run away because these boys usually operate at night; ransack the communities, shoot and so on.
“Most of our people can no longer endure the situation because they break into peoples’ houses and steal their properties.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said no official report has been made to the police on the incident.
“The command has not received any official report on it. But I spoke with the Divisional Police Officer who told me the people said they were coming to his office over the incident.
“It is important that when such things happen, let the community make an official report to the nearest police station in their domain so that action can be taken immediately.”
