Suspected armed cultists stormed the Divisional headquarter of the Nigeria Police Force in Oporoma, the headquarters of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa state and set it ablaze.
This attack was carried out after some cultist unsuccessfully tried to break one of their members loose from the prison.
It is reported that a suspect in custody at the police station made plans to escape but was shot by the officer on duty. His colleagues then re-mobilized and attacked the station before setting it on fire.
According to Sun News, Spokesman of the state police command, Asinim Butswat, said a preliminary report of the incident has been received by the command headquarters.
Report indicates that a suspected cultist who was on police wanted list for various heinous crimes such as kidnapping, sea robbery, armed robbery and pipeline vandalism, was arrested and detained at the Oporoma Police Division, Southern Ijaw council, preparatory to his being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yenagoa.
The suspect, on March 21, 2018, attempted to escape from lawful custody and was shot by the police officer on duty. Other members of the suspect’s cult group mobilised and attacked officers on duty at the police division, and set it ablaze. Additional policemen were deployed to restore normalcy in the community.
There seems to be emergence of cult cases in Bayelsa state, we call on the public to volunteer useful information and assist the police in curbing trend of cultism among our youths, he said.
