Hoodlums suspected to be cultists have reportedly burnt down houses and vehicles belonging to the paramount ruler of Elele community in Ikwerre local Government area of Rivers State, ,King J.O Amadi and other prominent natives of the area National Network has learned.
The incident according to sources, occurred in the early hours of Sunday. The rampaging hoodlums were said to have carried out the arson attack to express their displeasure with the traditional institution for giving support for the establishment of the local vigilante known as Elele Security and Advisory Planning Committee(ESPAC) which is reminiscent of OSPAC in Omoku.
Reports say the hoodlums whose members fled the community as soon as the vigilante group started operations last week may have launched the Sunday morning attack to avenge the loss they suffered when ESPAC in collaboration with security agencies raided major criminal hideouts in the community.
A native of the community who pleaded anonymity revealed that no lives were lost in the attack.
Efforts made to hear from the Rivers State Police command did not yield result as the Public Relations Officer of the command who is a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP), Nnamdi Omoni did not respond to text messages sent to his mobile line.
Investigations by National Network revealed that Ikwerre communities like Ndele and Odegu,Akpor kingdom in Obio/Akpor local Government ,Elele among others have established local vigilante groups who are working in synergy with Police and other security agencies to curtail cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and other related crimes.
Investigations also showed that cultists dread the local vigilante due to the belief that the group possesses potent charm that makes it difficult for bullets and known to penetrate their body.
The group is believed to have recorded huge success in places like Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local Government Area of Rivers State.
