Suspected gunmen, yesterday, invaded Kono-Boue community in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, killing four persons.
It was gathered that the incident had forced residents of the community to flee to neighbouring Bori community in the same local council.
A source in the community told newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday that AK-47-wielding assailants invaded the community in the wee hours, shot sporadically, which led to the death of four youths.
The source said the hoodlums came from a neighbouring community, harassed villagers and carted away mobile phones and other valuables from commuters.
The source said: “A group of people came from the neigbouring community to attack our community. Two days ago, there was a meeting and it was agreed that there should be no attack from any community.
“We called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Bori Division who came but four persons had been killed. It is not community crisis; it is the handwork of cultists. What they do is that when they attack, they run into a nearby community. So, we are appealing to all the communities to remain calm until we identify the people behind the killing,” he added.
Spokesman for the Community Development Committee of the area, Golden Nwibakpo, who confirmed the incident, requested a police station to be sited in the area.
Nwibakpo said: “Many women are in the forest. Our pain is that these four youths are not members of any cult group. As I speak, the entire community is deserted. We have earlier called on the Rivers State Government to build a police station in Kono Boue to check crime and criminality.
“We also talked about the bad road there. If that road is done, it will help the police and other security operatives to move around. We are appealing to stakeholders in Rivers State and Nigeria to come to the aid of Kono Boue community.”
Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, failed to respond to his calls and text message sent to him as of the time of filing the report.