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Two youths confirmed dead, others missing
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Commercial activities down over fear of looting
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – Two teenagers have been confirmed dead in a deadly clash involving rival cult groups operating within Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Competent sources hinted that casualties from the riotous incident could be higher with the cultists having gone totally berserk in their supremacy battle in the affected area.
According to the sources, the mayhem was triggered by a minor argument at Ekpri Ikang, a popular Bakassi suburb involving members of two cult groups, Skylo Boys and the Red Scorpions over their area of control.
The squabble thereafter snowballed into fisticuffs with the contending sides issuing lethal threats and brandishing dangerous weapons that eventually resulted in the death of an alleged Red scorpion member.
Our sources further disclosed that the night of Friday, January 15, 2021 witnessed another bloody engagement following what many considered a reprisal attack by Skylo Boys that claimed the second victim’s life
Forefront learnt the deadly incident has obviously disrupted commercial and social activities in the local government area with many shop owners as well as petty traders afraid that opening up for business could result in the looting of their goods.
Amid heightening tension, there is palpable fear that a third cult group, ‘The Baggers’ (popularly nicknamed ‘Ndito Ekpat‘ in the local parlance) may have joined the fray and the raging cult members could therefore resort to massive looting and destruction of private property.
Our very reliable sources disclosed that cult-related killings in the area have been taken to a bizarre level with rivals groups scores recorded in football matches to depict the number of casualties suffered in any confrontation.
“Among cult members, it is now popular to hear them saying the current score is; 0me-one; 2-1; or 3-2 as the case may be to register the fatalities recorded by the warring parties”, an insider volunteered to Forefront
However, names of the victims and missing persons are still shrouded in secrecy as residents of the area are keeping sealed lips to avoid becoming targets of attack by the rampaging cults’ members.
Phone calls to Bakassi Local Government Council chairman, Hon. Iyadim Amboni Iyadim for his comments on security measures in place to curb the crisis from spreading proved abortive as his mobile lines are permanently busy.
Also, efforts at contacting the PPRO of the State Police Command, DSP Irene Ugbo to comment on the incident were fruitless as repeated calls to her mobile line returned the ‘not available’ signal after initially picking our correspondent’s call.
Forefront visit to the Command Headquarters at Diamond Hill, Calabar met with further disappointment as the spokeswoman was not on seat due to ongoing fumigation of the complex in line with COVID-19 health protocols.
An insider said the new Police Commissioner, Sikiru Akande, had ordered a thorough decontamination of the Police headquarters in what may not be unconnected with speculations that the immediate past Police boss in the state, Abdulkadir Lanre Jimoh, who died at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital of complications from the COVID-19 infection.
