Renewed cult activities have sent griefs to families and jitters into the spines of residents of Eniong Offot and Anua group of villages and the environs in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The latest is the brutal killing of one Peter Ekpeowo, an indigene of Anua in Uyo on Saturday night by people suspected to be cultists.
Subsequently, the suspected cultists took away the lifeless body of Ekpeowo and dumped it at the entrance of his father’s compound, 15 Mbak Road in Anua on Sunday morning, July 7 at 9 a.m.
The deceased with sliced head and chopped body sprawled the deceased’s compound and the gory spectacle drew huge crowd to the scene.
Read also: Cultists behead final-year Varsity student in Akwa Ibom
Though the suspected killers were not caught, eye witness said a car drove to the street and threw the corpse into the compound and suddenly sped off to an unknown destination.
As an army of sight-seeing persons swarmed the area to behold the dishevelled sight, members of police patrol team arrived at the scene and the watchers dispersed for fear of arrest.
The street source told Straightnews that ‘‘a supposed ally of the victim called him after he had taken his bath on telephone to a drinking joint at 113 Udo Ekpo Mkpo Street by Mbom Street in Anua.
‘‘As the victim was in a drinking spree with his friends, the suspected cultists strolled in and butchered him and made away with the corpse.
‘‘As they left with the corpse, they sporadically shot into thin air and made away with it. On Sunday morning, they took the corpse to the father’s compound and dumped it there.’’
An undisclosed family source told our reporter that the deceased who was yet to have a child did wedding at Mt. Zion Gospel Church, Anua a few months ago .
”The mother wept uncontrollably. The wedded wife could not be consoled. Even the father and siblings were more grieved at the mindless killing of their own.”
When our correspondent visited the deceased’s compound, 15 Mbak Road, Anua, a tenant told him that the deceased father, a senior staffer at St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua and the senior brother, one Imo, a Principal in Idorenyin Legacy Schools, Anua had gone out.
Later, some suspected cultists who invaded parts of Eniong Offot and Anua Sunday night went after members of rival groups leading to desertion of streets and closure of shops by owners for fear of reprisal attacks by the daredevils.
An anonymous source confided in this newspaper that members of Mafia and another cult group clashed. As at 8 a.m on Sunday night, traders near Water Fountain, Nwaniba Road had deserted the area for fear of attacks.
‘‘One member told us to pack and leave the area before 8 p.m. They went there to commemorate 7/7, which was like annual festival day for them that coincided on Sunday. Even Keke operators who usually ply Edet Akpan Avenue and Nsikak Eduok Avenue fled the area to avoid being attacked by the cultists,’’ the person stated.
Confirming the story, the Akwa Ibom Police Relations Officer, ASP Timfon John, in a telephone interview on Monday, said it was a clash of two cult groups.
Though John did not mention the names of the cult groups, she said ‘‘Akwa Ibom Police Command is top of the matter. We are putting everything in our disposal in place to ensure the arrest of the suspects.’’
