Supremacy battle between two rival cult gangs in Emohua, Rivers State, takes toll on life and economic activities of the people in the community, Senior Correspondent, ISHAYA IBRAHIM, writes
Mohammed Abubakar, Police IG
Cult members have taken over Emohua, a sleepy town in Emohua local government area of Rivers State, our reporter learnt. In the last three years, two rival cult groups, Degbam and Dewell, have been on the prowl, unleashing terror on each other and killing relatives of their targets as well as innocent by-standers.
According to an indigene of the community who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the killings begun three years ago, though it is unclear what sparked off the crises.
The areas in the community most hit by the cut activities include Elibrada and Rumuakunde villages where several deaths and wanton destruction of property have been reported. The people of Elibrada are now living as refugees in neighbouring communities, as several persons were allegedly beheaded by the cult members, and their headless bodies thrown into the river that serves a major source of water supply for the community.
Following the three-year cycle of killings, the people of the community have now resorted to spiritual help. On April 24, they gathered in a prayer that had more than 2,000 persons in attendance. The aim was to involve the Divine in a problem that has defied all interventions, even from the Nigeria Police.
So far, the intervention of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunsakin, has not helped the situation. He visited Emohua penultimate week and had a meeting with the council chairman and the council of chiefs.
“The aim of the meeting is to open the newly-built police station at Emohua, establish police post at Elibrada (the worst hit community), posting of policemen to work with the various vigilance groups in the community and constant police patrol of the town,” a source at the meeting told our correspondent.
Despite the police’s best effort, the problem continued to worsen. So, the elders of the community decided to seek God’s help in a crusade attended by more than 100 pastors.
Eze Goddy Onuekwa, a traditional ruler and chairman of the council of chiefs in Emohua, told TheNiche in a telephone chat that they were, by the prayer, re-dedicating their land to God.
His words: “We have just finished prayers to God where a 100-man clergy prayed and over 2,000 people gathered, so that God will deliver our land. We have re-dedicated our land to God.”
The killings in Emohua have sent jitters down the spines of prominent members of the community. One of them, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Sergeant Awuse, told TheNiche in an interview that he found the killings incomprehensible.
“I don’t know! I heard it is the cult boys. I’m in Abuja, so I don’t even have comprehensive knowledge about what is happening there. But I hear that it is cult boys. Please ask these people to lay down their arms and let them talk to people! These things are not good. They are just destroying the place. We don’t need these kinds of activities,” he said.
When asked if he knew what the cult members wanted, he said: “That is the point. We have been asking them (the cult members) and they haven’t said anything. They just come out and kill their colleagues. I don’t know why. That is what I have been told, and I don’t know why.”
The paramount ruler of Oduoha community, Oha Agbandu Ogbuehi, also called on the youths in the community not to aid the cult members from other neighbouring communities like Ibaa and Elibrada to cause mayhem in his domain.
The continuous killings in Emohua have denied the people their peace, especially in Elibrada and Rumuakunde villages where several deaths and wanton destruction of property have taken place.
Some members of the community have blamed the police station in the community for the worsening insecurity in the area.
A source said: “Operatives from the station once stormed Elibrada community and many of the cult members were arrested, with arms and ammunition recovered from them. But they were freed without prosecution.”
Though the cult members have been ferocious in their attacks lately, they have been facing resistance from the community’s vigilance group, TheNiche further learnt.
