Not less than six persons lost their lives in the Rivers State capital, Port- Harcourt after what was suspected to be a cult attack in Ojoto axis of Diobu, Mile One.
Eyewitnesses told THISDAY yesterday that trouble started when armed men appeared at a drinking joint within the Ojoto area and opened fire on some persons they traced to the place, who were also suspected to belong to a rival cult group.
It was further gathered that by the time they were through, about four persons had been killed with several others rolling in their pool of blood, wounded.
As they were rounding off their attack, however, it was gathered that a team of policemen in a van followed the bus which the suspected cultists boarded.
At some point when the armed men realized that they were being followed, their bus pulled over and the gunmen took to their heels before the police squad could reach them, but left the driver of the bus and his conductor on the spot.
It was however, gathered that as the police squad approached the bus, it opened fire on the driver and the conductor, who were also said to have come out of the vehicle and wanted to run away.
They were not as lucky as the gunmen who had used their vehicle and had left before policemen came, they died on the spot.
The Rivers State Police Command, however, said the incident was an armed robbery case and not a cult attack.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Mrs. Ireju Barasua (DSP), who spoke on behalf of the state Police Commissioner confirmed to journalists that six persons lost their lives in the fight and that the police was still investigating the case, but that the case looked like an armed robbery attack than a cult fight.
Mar102006