{"id":91991,"date":"2024-10-21T11:41:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T11:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91991"},"modified":"2024-10-21T13:35:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T13:35:27","slug":"cult-war-claims-11-ives-in-anambra-state-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91991","title":{"rendered":"Cult battle claims 11 in Anambra State capital"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">From <strong>Chuks Moses<\/strong>, Awka<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">No fewer than eight lives were lost on Sunday evening after a group of suspected cultists opened fire at an eating joint in Nibo, Awka South Council of Anambra State. Three others were killed at another location.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">It was yet to be ascertained what triggered the gunfire as at the time of filing the report.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91997\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91997\" style=\"width: 169px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-91997\" src=\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG-20241021-WA00041-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG-20241021-WA00041-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG-20241021-WA00041-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG-20241021-WA00041.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-91997\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene after the gun attack with a body lying in the middle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Most eye witnesses who spoke to journalists claimed they were still traumatised by the indiscriminate shooting and killings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Nibo, a suburb of the capital city of Awka, was said to be celebrating an annual Onwa Asaa festival, a time meant for joy and unity for Nibo indigenes, friends and well-wishers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">According to a witness, among others who declined to give their names, apparently out of fear, t<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">he armed men stormed the\u00a0 scene of the shootings in a black Lexus sports utility vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Jumping out in commando style, they instantly opened fire in multiple directions, killing many in the vicinity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The witness said \u201cIt was like a war zone&#8230;.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">\u201cThe gunmen came out from their vehicle, shooting everywhere. People were running in all directions for their lives, screaming and crying. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">&#8220;It was indeed chaotic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">&#8220;The festival, meant to bring people together, has been marred by violence and bloodshed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">\u201cWe are devastated. How can someone do this to us during our celebration? It\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d said a resident.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The community is demanding justice for the victims and their families.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">\u201cWe urge the government to take immediate action,\u201d said a community leader, adding, \u201cWe cannot continue to live in fear. We need peace and security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The police and other security agencies have been deployed to the area to investigate the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">Reacting to the incident, the state police command said it was a cult-related clash.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">The police reaction contained in a statement by the command\u2019s spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, titled: SUSPECTED CULT-RELATED CLASH IN NIBO: CP ITAM ORDERS DEPLOYMENT OF ADDITIONAL OPERATIVES IN THE AREA, reads in part, &#8220;the Command is aware of a suspected cult-related clash today 20\/10\/2024 in Nibo, Awka South LG and the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam has ordered immediate deployment of additional operatives to the area for necessary action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">&#8220;Preliminary reports of the incidents are still sketchy as the Command calls on the witnesses of this incident to volunteer information that will help to identify the perpetrators for possible arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">&#8220;Be assured that information sent in this regard shall be treated with utmost confidentiality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">&#8220;You can call the Command Control Room at 07039194332 or the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) at 08039334002.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 17px;\">While the ugly incident at Nibo claimed eight lives, three others were killed same Sunday in Nodu Village of Okpuno community, another surburb of the northern\u00a0 border\u00a0 of Awka.<\/span><!--\/data\/user\/0\/com.samsung.android.app.notes\/files\/clipdata\/clipdata_bodytext_241021_123727_138.sdocx--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Chuks Moses, Awka No fewer than eight lives were lost on Sunday evening after a group of suspected cultists opened fire at an eating joint in Nibo, Awka South Council of Anambra State. Three others were killed at another location. It was yet to be ascertained what triggered the gunfire as at the time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5807,7],"tags":[4478,6823,6824],"class_list":["post-91991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-and-violence","category-news","tag-cult","tag-nibo","tag-shootings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}