A renewed cult war in Swali, a suburb of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, at the weekend, claimed four victims at a popular market.
One of the suspected cult members, Mr. God-do-well, was inflicted with several machete cuts.
A rival gang, numbering over 40, on Friday, left the 34-year-old from Delta State, in the pool of his own blood.
The suspected cultists allegedly went on reprisal after three members of their gang were killed on Tuesday at about 4:00pm at two locations in the market.
Angered by this, they stormed the markets, shot sporadically to scare meat traders, dragged out the deceased and slaughtered him in front of the helpless traders.
The Guardian gathered that on Tuesday afternoon, a gang known as “Islanders” raided the area due to some unsettled crisis between them and “Bobos,” a rival group.
A petty trader said it was a terrible situation on Tuesday, when the hoodlums stormed the market.
He said: “In the ensuing melee, a middle-aged man was killed.
And in the next street after the market, two other members of the same gang were also killed same day. We now live in fear because we don’t know their next move.
“There is no security, because there’s no patrol team around.
They usually come to the market to smoke Indian hemp and sometimes rob traders,”
Traders in the market pleaded with security agents to come to their aid.
When contacted, spokesperson, Bayelsa State Police Command, ASP Asimin Butwats, was not available for comment, as his phone was switched off.