2 killed as rival cult clash in Ilorin

Bloody street brawl between rival cult members has allegedly claimed two lives in Ilorin, Kwara state capital.

The incident which took place in Okelele area of the metropolis brings to three the number of cult-related deaths in three days.

Members of one of the cult groups had last Sunday killed a middle-aged man belonging to another group within the premises of Okelele Junior Secondary School, Ilorin.

The Tuesday incident which residents claimed was reprisals killings happened simultaneously at Kankatu and Isale- Odo areas of Okelele community.

It was gathered that members of the group that struck last Sunday broke an earlier agreement between the two sides that they should cease hostilities during the holy months of Ramadan.

A resident confided in our reporter that it was the breaking of the agreement by a group that resorted in the dastardly operations carried out by the second group on Tuesday.

He further disclosed that members of the two warring cult groups are tricycle operators.

Residents of Okelele and the adjoining communities now live in fear as the reprisals attacks may continue, a source said.

The Sunday event an eye witness said that the suspected assassins came with a tricycle fully armed with dangerous weapons.

He alleged that the victim had been on assassin’s death list and his movement has been under watched before he was finally tracked down in the school.

The assailants, it was gathered, strangulated and matcheted to death.

It was also gathered, that the blood stains of the deceased littered the ground of the incident.
Reacting to the incident, Kwara state police command spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi said a man was killed by unknown persons on Sunday this week.

He could not confirm whether it was a case of cult clash.

He said the command is investigating why family members of the deceased hurriedly buried his corpse without police permission.

On the Tuesday incident, Mr. Okasanmi (DSP) said nothing of such happened, adding that people are just peddling unsubstantiated rumours around town.