Foluso Adebanjo, Rivers CP

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Over 500 persons have been reportedly killed within the period of eight months due to cult gang clashes in Ahoada West and Ahoada East local Government areas of Rivers State.

In a study and research carried out by the Institute for Strategic and Developmental Studies revealed that a greater number of those who lost their lives were people in their active youthful ages.

The facts were revealed by Nngeri GoodHead Goodlife, who is a Lawyer and a former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ahoada West local government area and Member Board of Trustees Institute for strategic, and Development Studies. It carried out a study on the root causes of cult clashes and the effect in Ahoada East and Ahoada West local government areas of the state.

Goodlife who is a member, Ahoada East and Ahoada West local government areas Peace, Security and Reconciliation Committee revealed scary figures while giving highlights of the report reached after conducting a study of the impact of cult gang clashes in the affected areas in a Port Harcourt radio programme today.

Nngeri Goodhead Goodlife further lamented that the deaths that had occurred in the area had been under reported.

“People die in number of 20s,30s…and many of them are not reported.Many of them are youths and others a prominent persons in the society”.

He said that the main cause of the cult clashes in areas under survey is the abandonment of the culture of respect for elders and values for human lives.

“It is tradition of Ekpeye people to to respect their elders when it come giving authorities and issuing orders. But if you are an elder and you deserve respect but you do not live up be respected you lose the respect.The issue of respect and order that have eluded the Ekpeye people was also discovered during study and need for it to be corrected.”

He said that the cult clashes were sponsored by people of Ekpeye but they deliberately refused to include their names in the report because the report was not a petition.

The former CTC Chairman, Ahoada West, said called on the youths of the area to lay down their arms and embrace people.