According to reports, at least four people have been killed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, in a new clash between two rival cult groups in the city.
The fighting occurs mainly within some communities around Nwaniba Road, which is known for cult-related killings and violence in Uyo.
Nwaniba Road leads to a five-star hotel, the Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort, in the town and the permanent campus of the University of Uyo.
There have been reports of sporadic shootings in communities since Monday, with some residents fleeing their homes.
“Please pray for me. I am in danger God please save my life,” a Uyo journalist Nora Iwang wrote on her Facebook page at 9:13 p.m. Monday, saying she was trapped on Nwaniba Road.
“Please avoid Nwaniba, it’s not safe,” he had written about four minutes before his cry for help.
Newslodge spoke to Ms. Iwang on Tuesday morning. She said a friend of hers rescued her from the community around midnight.
“I went to Nwaniba to buy some medicines at a pharmacy, so I came across (the) clash of cults,” he said. “It was horrible. Something I’ve never seen before.”
Akwa Ibom police spokesman Odiko MacDon confirmed the cult clash in a statement on Monday. He said that four people have died.
It is not clear for now if the victims are members of the cult groups or innocent people.
MacDon, a police superintendent, said the police commissioner in the state, Olatoye Durosinmi, vowed to bring the perpetrators of the violence and murder to justice.
Police have been deployed to the area to restore order and hunt down the perpetrators, the police spokesman said.
The Akwa Ibom state government in 2018 outlawed 32 cult groups in the state to address the growing cult violence in the state.