No fewer than three persons have allegedly been killed in Kankatu, Okelele area of Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State after a bloody cult clash.
It was gathered that the killing started on Monday night around 8:00pm when one Abdulganiy popularly known as ‘Messi’ was gunned down in the community.
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However, on Tuesday, some persons believed to be the deceased’s gang members, were said to have accosted one Adebayo Yitta of a rival cult at his Aso Oke weaving station and shot him.
According to an eyewitness who craved anonymity, “Adebayo was macheted to death after he was shot.”
“As I am talking to you, they have killed another target. We all know him as Lanre. He was shot dead and left in a pool of blood. It’s like they are counting scores with human lives,” the source, who was part of the community members that paid a condolence visit to Messi’s family, added.
He said the weaving station and other parts of the community had been deserted by some residents for fear of falling victim to any impending reprisal.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ajayi Okasanmi, said he had not been briefed but ‘I will make findings and get back to you’.
However, the District Head of Ibagun in Okelele community, Malam Sakariyau Ilufemiloye, condemned the invasion by the cultists.
Ilufemiloye, who confirmed the killing of two persons by the cultists on Monday and Tuesday, summoned an emergency meeting of all the families’ heads and the security committee in the community over the development.
The Alangua, in a statement signed on his behalf by the chairman of Ibagun Progressives Union (IPU), Alh Kuranga Omomeji Morogun, traced the upsurge in cult activities in Ibagun-Okeleke community to the infiltration of the area by intruders. He said the community was peaceful until recently.