Anxiey broke out on Tuesday in Kabong community of Jos North Local
Government Area of Plateau State when suspected members of a cult group
insisted on the burial of thier member, Philip Yakubu, who was killed
during a bloody clash between two rival groups.
It was gathered that Philip, 29, was killed on Saturday night when
two cult groups, Red Axe and the Black Axe, clashed, leaving about 13
persons dead in various locations in Jos, the state capital.
It was gathered that the cultists, who came out in their numbers as
early as 8 a.m. to pick the corpse at Bingham University Teaching
Hospital Jos claimed that Philip was thier member, and demanded the
family to released the corpse to them for burial according to their
belief.
The agitation by the cult group, coupled with an attempt to burn Cool
Penny Hotel belonging to the gang leader of the rival cult group, drew
attention of the Special Task Force (STF) in charge of internal security
in Jos and environs to the area.
According to Daily Sun, the action of the killer group sent dangerous
signal to marketers who hurriedly closed down their shops as the memory
of Saturday episode was still fresh on their minds.
Father of the deceased, Yakubu Jah, told Daily Sun that his son was
called out from the house by a friend on Saturday at about 6:30 p.m. and
while they were chatting with friends, the rival suspected cultist
group appeared suddenly and cut him severally with knife all over his
body.
Mr Jah said, before his attention was drawn to the incident, he was
informed that his son died before they could reach Bingham University
Teaching Hospital Jos, where he was being rushed for treatment.
He said, “the burial was carried out by the family along Government Secondary School Kabong.”
The spokesman of the Special Task Force, Major Umar Adams said some
hoodlums were trying to take advantage of the crowded environment during
the burial of the suspected cultist member to unleash terror on
innocent people.
He said, “The STF personnel swing into action to curtail the situation which would have led to fresh lost of lives.”
However, the Police Public Relations Officer of Plateau State Police
Command, ASP Matthias Terna Tyopev, had confirmed that a corpse was
found on Sunday morning at the flyover bridge at Goodluck Jonathan Way
at Gada Biu area in Jos North.
He said the police and other security agencies were at the scene to avert further break down of law and other.
Tyopev said, “We have beefed up security within the area and environs to curtail further killings in the area.”
Daily Sun,