Two persons have died in a cult clash at Nyokuru-Ogoni, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The community has been deserted following the destruction of property estimated at millions of naira and fear of a reprisal.
The President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, who condemned the violence, urged security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators.
Speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Pyagbara said: “Most people from Nyokuru have been driven out of their homes and are yet to return. Two persons have been confirmed dead and many homes in the community have been destroyed.
“MOSOP leaders and I are saddened that despite repeated calls for peace and understanding among our people, our young men and women do not resist the temptation to be involved in violence and will resort to the level of bestial display of hate and destruction at the slightest provocation and in the process render useless what has taken people years of struggle and efforts to get.
“It is unfortunate that we cannot be talking of survival of the Ogoni people and at the same time be killing one another.
“I urge the state and Federal governments to take adequate steps to protect the people of Nyokuru community. I am also calling on security agents to continue to rise up to their responsibility to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
“Since security is everyone’s business, I wish to call on members of the civil society and the good people of Rivers State to support the security agencies and government with the necessary information, to ensure that the sad incident in Nyokuru does not repeat itself.”
The MOSOP president hailed the Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Lateh Loolo, and security agents for their responses.
He urged them to ensure that peace returns to the community and those behind the carnage are apprehended and prosecuted.
Source: TheNation