Residents of Umuobi in Assa Ohaji/Egbema Local Government area of Imo State have begun to leave the sleepy agrarian community in droves.
Already, scores of the people have fled the community, scampering to safety in neighbouring towns and villages, where they are now taking refuge.
The reason: They are scurrying off the community to escape being caught in a crossfire in an imminent reprisal for the alleged killing of a rival gang member by some suspected cultists.
Others left in the community have been sleeping with one eye widely open and look beyond their shoulders several times, whenever they venture out of their homes.
The residents of Umuobi seem to have learnt a lesson from the recent incessant clashes by rival cult groups in the area, resulting in the burning of houses, killings and sometimes the massacre of the people of some neighbouring communities.
So, they are not leaving anything to chances. An eye witness, who pleaded anonymity, said that the incident that led to the current situation in the community occurred after a suspected cultist belonging to De-well group, simply identified as Nwaobere from Umuobi was beheaded by members of a rival cult group, De-gbam, last weekend in retaliation for his alleged involvement in the earlier killing of a member of the De-gbam group, Chisoyi Dikocha and his family of five.
The eye witness said that the Degbam gang accused Nwaobere of masterminding the killing of Dikocha, his pregnant wife, Ndaolu, and children, during a crisis last year and later went into hiding.
The mysterious killing of Dikocha and his entire family was a big shock to the community. The Degbam group, however, vowed not to let the killers of Dikocha and his family go unpunished.
The moment news filtered into Umuobi that Nwaobere had been killed by members of the rival Degbam cult group, panic gripped the entire community while scores of the residents packed a few of their belongings and fled because of the fear of the unknown. Within a few hours, the community had become almost deserted!
“Nobody will want to be caught in any fight between these two notorious cult groups in this area. They are all killers and the communities around here have for long been held hostage by the members of these deadly gangs.
So, we must all seek refuge elsewhere,” said the eye witness. The father of the murdered alleged cultist, Mr. Victor Mma, however, accused the De-gbam group of achieving its long-time ‘ambition’ to hunt down his son, whom he said they claimed was responsible for the murder of Dikocha, his pregnant wife and children.
Mma maintained that his son was innocent of the alleged killing of Dikocha, stressing that his late son, Nwaobere, was resident in Onitsha, Anambra State, where he was engaged in some menial jobs to make ends meet.
“Nwaobere is not a cultist. I can vouch for him. But those who killed him will not go unpunished. He was my son and I have never seen him engage in notorious activities let alone cultism,” he said.
He claimed that his son was killed by a group of boys in the community out of sheer hatred and envy for him.
“They wanted to destroy my family and they have succeeded in their intentions. Now, you can see they have burnt down my house. I will not let them go scot-free,” Nwaobere’s father said.
Nobody will want to be caught in any fight between these two notorious cult groups in this area. They are all killers and the communities around here have for long been held hostage by the members of these deadly gangs. So, we must all seek refuge elsewhere
