Not fewer than five houses have been burnt at Adeke area of Mobile Barracks in Makurdi, the Benue State capital after some youths suspected to be members of rival cult groups clashed.
The Next Edition gathered that trouble started around 12 noon on Wednesday, when the youths attacked one person suspected to be a member of a rival cult group around the Adem community closed to Adeke Community.
It was further gathered that cult members of the attacked victim on hearing the news, immediately mobilzed and came for a reprisal.
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The source who didn’t want to be named said in a short while, the situation degenerated leading to shooting and burning of houses while shop owners quickly closed their shops and parents scampered to pick their wards from schools.
According to the source, security personnel including police, Civil Defense and DSS who were deployed to the area that afternoon could not do much as the youths had already set houses ablaze before they arrived.
“The crisis continued throughout the night till early hours of Thursday with heavy shooting and burning of houses in Adeke area. We couldn’t sleep at all. My children and I were so afraid because of the sporadic shooting last night,” the source said.
Our correspondent reports that as at Thursday night, most people had evacuated their families to safer places with relatives in town while the men stayed back.
“When I drove out of my gate, I saw families leaving with their things on their head. Some carried “Ghana Must Go” bags filled with house holding items, others with their boxes. Some even carried their mattrasses,” a source said.
Efforts to speak to the Police authorities failed as the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, SP Catherine Anene, was said to be out and could not be reached on phone.