By DAVIES IHEAMNACHOR

EGI—RESIDENTS of Obite and Ogbogwu communities, Egi clan, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, One LGA, Rivers State, who fled their homes following a gory supremacy battle between Greenlanders and Icelanders cult gangs in the area, early last month, unbelievably celebrated the Christmas and New Year festivities in exile.

Niger Delta Voice learned that the affected inhabitants currently living as refugees in neighboring towns could not resettle in their communities before the festive period because of the obtainable tension in their area. The cultists almost razed their villages. About 15 persons allegedly lost their lives in the skirmish with property worth millions of naira destroyed. The rampaging cultists sacked no fewer than six communities in the bitter scuffle over who controls Egi clan.

Uneasy calm

There was an uneasy calm among the people when our reporter visited the communities at the weekend. Speaking to Niger Delta Voice, a villager, who simply identified himself as Mr. Osere said the people could not come back fully for the celebrations because of fear. He asserted that nobody, who passed through the trauma at Egi at the end of 2015, would return home to celebrate the Yuletide, adding that several persons lost their loved ones and property.

Killings and counter killings

Investigations showed that the crisis actually started December 9, 2015 when one of the cult groups, Icelanders, invaded the area hunting for members of the rival gang. Icelanders reportedly killed three people at Obite community, seven at Erema, four at Akabuka and four at Ogbowu. Some days after, the Greenlanders carried out a reprisal attack in some of the communities killing about seven persons. Panic-struck villagers fled the area while oil companies operating in the area had temporarily shut down operations.

State govt sends LG chair packing

Following the recurrent killing and cult related activities in the area, the Rivers state government on the recommendation of the state House of Assembly sacked One LGA chair, Mr. Austin Ahiamadu, on the grounds that he could not manage the recurrent killings in the area.

The state assembly subsequently screened Prince Isaac Umejuru, who was appointed by Governor Nyesom Wike as caretaker chair.

Ahiamadu vows to challenge sack

The sacked local government chair, Mr. Ahiamadu, however, vowed to challenge his removal in court. He said that it was not proper that the state assembly would on the instruction of the governor order him, a duly elected chair of the local government out of office.

Umejuru undertakes to tackle insecurity

On assumption of office as the new Caretaker Committee Chairman of One LGA, Prince Umejuru swore to tackle the insecurity bedeviling the area head-on. Umejuru, who spoke while on tour of the affected communities, accused his predecessor of not doing enough to combat security challenges in the area. He has visited more than 10 communities calling for peace among the youths.

“I will work closely with the security agents so that with their help we will bring back the peace in One LGA. If Ahiamadu has been accused of negligence, it is not an accusation because it is real. Before this time, One LGA was a home to everybody; people leave other parts of Rivers State and come to One LGA to relax with their families during the weekends,” he said.

His words: “But today, One LGA is just like a grave yard; oil companies are packing out, market is no longer functioning properly because of insecurity. You can see that he has neglected his duties. “I heard that he is not even operating from the office. I am here today, I know the problem, of the people, I know the people and the people know me. So I think within a short period of time, we will nip this on the board.”

The caretaker chair, on the other hand, appealed to the people who fled their homes during the attack to return to the communities. Rivers police confirm five persons dead in cult war. The Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the cult war but said that five people died in the clash. In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the state, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, the command stated that the war startedbecause of two rival cult groups in the area battling for supremacy, adding that the casualties were mainly members of the warring cult groups.

Muhammad stated that the police have already brought the escalating situation under control through its swift intervention and that normalcy has returned in the area. The statement reads in part: “The attention of Rivers State Command has been drawn to the alleged killing of about fifty persons in cult related activities in Egi land of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government. It is pertinent to point out that the reports are not true and did not reflect the actual position of things in the area. To say the least, the reports were spurious and over amplification of the security situation in the area.

“It also instructive to state that on 09/12/2015, the Command recorded simultaneous incidents of cult clashes between two rival cult groups in Ogbogu and Obite communities, which resulted in the death of five persons who are suspected to be members of either of the cult groups. “Consequently, the command swiftly and massively deployed tactical teams that expeditiously brought the situation under control and normalcy has since been restored,” the police said.

Group urges Rivers govt to probe killings

Meanwhile, a youth group, One LGA Youth Forum, has called on the Rivers state government to investigate the cause of the continuous killing in the area. A rights activist, who is also one of the leaders of the group, Mr. Bright Abali, said there was need to investigate the killings, adding, “Over 300 persons have been killed in One LGA in Rivers State between 2014 and 2015 unaccounted for and most of them are youths.”

“The group wants the newly appointed caretaker chair of ONELGA and the state government to set up a commission to unravel the cause of the killings to avoid similar occurrence in future.”