By: Felix Ikpotor
…Kill five in gun battle
The Army 2 Brigade in Port Harcourt says it is committed in the fight against cult activities in Rivers State.
This even as the army has killed five suspected cultists believed to be members of the Icelander cult in Obelle and Ibaa acommunities in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
Army spokesman, Captain Eli Lazarus told newsmen in Port Harcourt that the suspects were killed during a raid on the cultists hideout in the area.
The cultist had reportedly kidnapped five people on Friday around Elele Town in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Army, following the recurrent killings and other cult-related activities that is threatening the peace in Rivers State, trailed the hoodlums to their new camp in Obelle and Ibaa.
A source in the community told our phspectator that when the soldiers entered the community in search of the cultists who fled Ibaa community to build a new camp in Obelle, the cultists opened fire on the Army which made the soldiers to call for reinforcement before going after the hoodlums.
It was gathered the soldiers chased the cultists, who engaged them in a gun battle, into the Obelle-Elele forest.
The five suspected cultists were gunned down by the army during the shootout that lasted for about six hours.
In the process, five out of six hostages escaped from the kidnappers’ den.
The cultists had ambushed a commercial bus en route to Port Harcourt from Anambra State last Friday, reportedly kidnapping six people at gunpoint and taking them into a forest in the area.
Captain Lazarus further urged members of the community to give the army useful information that can lead to the arrest of other members of the cult group.
