Four persons were reportedly killed on Monday night at Olunlade community in the Ilorin metropolis as members of different cult groups in Kwara State celebrated the August 8 (8/8) cult festival.
Tribune Online gathered those feared killed including cult members, who engaged in reprisal attacks.
However, the state Police command through the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Okasanmi Ajayi, confirming the incident, said that only two deaths were recorded during the celebration in Ilorin.
“Only two people were killed in the 8/8 celebration by the cult groups and not four people as being peddled around by some people. One person died on the spot of the crisis at Olunlade while the other was reported to have died later in the hospital.
Talking about the cause of the incident, the PPRO said, “You know that yesterday, Monday was August 8 and the different cult groups were celebrating the day in many places in the town. We don’t know what might have triggered the crisis among the cult members at Olunlade, but we gathered that the crisis might not be unconnected with rivalry among the cult groups. We gathered from intelligence reports that crisis broke out and the rival cult members started shooting sporadically to attack each other.”
The Command’s spokesperson, who said that the situation had been brought under control, added that operatives of the command had been drafted to the area to restore normalcy.
A resident of the area, who pleaded anonymity, said that the crisis started on Monday night at a local gin joint located near Bovas Petrol station at Olunlade.
“Some members of a cult group trailed a man to the joint spot. The target of the cultists, who regularly patronized the joint took to his heels to escape from the area. While he tried to leave the place, they opened fire on him.
“The bullet fired by the cult members hit two people including the son of the local gin seller. They continued to chase their target and later got him and shot him on the head,” he said.
Another resident of the area, who identified himself as Abdulmojeed, said that two people were killed by the cult members while two others sustained bullet wounds.
“I don’t know if the son of the local gin seller, who was shot survived, but the majority of us scampered for safety when they started shooting. God saved us that the bullet did not hit some of us when they started shooting,” he said.
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