The state governor, Liyel Imoke, had in the last four years tried to stamp out cultism in the state, but the ongoing Peoples Democratic Party congresses seemed to have renewed rivalry within the different cult groups.
The groups are said to be fighting over the control of the party, especially at the local government levels.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Mr. Hogan Bassey, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, put the number of casualties at two.
He confirmed that the clashes were between the Vikings and KK.
Some streets in Calabar South Local Government Area boiled on Monday evening when the two rival cult groups clashed at a child dedication ceremony. The real cause of the street fight might not be unconnected with the outcome of last Saturday’s local government congresses of the PDP, a source told THE PUNCH.
The two groups had a long history of rivalry at party primaries, congress or general elections as each group always fields candidates.
On Monday evening, some hoodlums belonging to rival camps descended on Anating, Palm, Academy, Webber, Nelson Mandela, Atu and White House streets in an open confrontation, causing pandemonium in the areas.
The group known as Mafs, suspected to be junior members of the KK, broke into the house, Mr. Frank Inyang, an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Information, whose wife gave birth few weeks ago. They allegedly destroyed all the electronics and attempted to kill his brother who escaped through the window.
At Nelson Mandela, opposite the famous Luna Nite club, the cult group attacked an elderly man (name withheld) who operates a shop, collected his mobile telephone and the money he generated from sales before giving him a machete cut on the chest.
