Two persons were reported dead by Benue State police amid a battle between rival cult groups in the Wadata neighborhood of Makurdi, the state capital, on Sunday.
According to reports, the conflict broke out near the Wadata river where the cult groups had convened for a meeting.
“Some cultists traveled to the riverside to hold a meeting due to the police crackdown on cultism in the state,” said Catherine Anene, spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command.
“When they arrived, they ran into a rival cult group, which resulted in a fight that claimed two lives.”
Five individuals have been taken into custody, according to Anene, who also pledged to disclose more information later.
According to earlier accounts, four individuals were killed and numerous others were injured by axes and gunshots.
An eyewitness told our correspondent on Monday that the violence broke out when rival cult groups, identified as the Red and Black confraternities, engaged in a battle for supremacy, resulting in four deaths.
According to the witness, who went by the name Aboh, the altercation started on Sunday morning when a member of the Black Confraternity and a member of the Red Confraternity got into a furious disagreement, which resulted in a brawl.
According to him, the battle intensified, and by the time it was over, two bodies had been discovered beside the river.
In what seemed to be a reprisal attack by the opposing group, Aboh added, another individual and his neighbor, Emeka, were also killed on Sunday night at the Wadata Police Barracks, Makurdi.
“We were attending a meeting at the police barracks in Wadata yesterday evening when some of the cult boys tracked Emeka down, attacked, and killed him,” he added.
After that, they killed someone more at the rice mill. All of the victims were friends of mine. Even one of them was among those killed when I called him on the phone to come and see what was going on.