Four cultists in Rivers die in gun battle with police

Four notorious cultists, who had been terrorising Isiokpo, Rumuji and Aluu communities, were yesterday killed by the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command during a gun duel near Ogbakri Junction in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

The cultists, it was gathered, were about attacking the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Annex Office in the area before they met their untimely death. Unknown to them, some policemen had positioned themselves few yards from the SARS Annex Office. They opened fire on the cultists; they fired back. But the police got reinforcement, which helped them win the gun battle.

“At the end, four of the cultists were killed but nothing happened to the SARS Annex Office in the Emohua Local Government Area,” a source said. There was also no casualty on the police side.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, who confirmed the incident, explained that the gun battle originated at about 11am yesterday.
He said that one of the four died in the hospital after confessing they were members of the gang that attacked a police station in Emohua LGA.

The spokesman also disclosed that apart from the killing of four cultists, dynamites were recovered from them.

“We directed all our formations to be on red alert. As God would have it, this morning around 11am, this same group that attacked Rumuji police station came to attack the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Annex office at Ogbakri Junction in the Emohua Local Government Area.

“They (cultists) came from the bush to attack the police station (SARS Annex office) and our men summoned the courage like they did at Rumuji to repel them.

“After the exchange of fire between the police and the cultists, the police searched the bush close to the SARS annex and discovered three corpses of notorious cultists. The fourth person died at the hospital.

“The police did not do it alone because the alarm was raised and SARS men and the anti-cultism unit came in from different routes to give reinforcement. That is why we were able to bring down four of them.

“They are the same gang that has been disturbing the Aluu-Isiokpo axis. Let me use this opportunity to send a warning to other members of the gang that we are on the alert,” he said.