From Tony John, Port Harcourt, Judex Okoro, Calabar and Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

GUNMEN on Saturday killed 12 persons at Ula- Ukpata and Edoha com­munities in Ahoada East Local Government area of Rivers State.

But, the state’s Police Command confirmed the death of only four people.

Sources from the areas said the gunmen invaded Ula-Ukpata community at about 1.00pm on Saturday and killed 10 persons.

According to the sources, the armed men reappeared at about 9.00pm the same day and killed another two persons.

However, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Musa Kimo, has confirmed the killing of four persons to newsmen yesterday, in Port Harcourt.

Kimo said the killings occurred on Saturday night at

Zion Nwoka’s com­pound in Ula-Ukpata com­munity, giving the names of the victims as Mrs. Monica Zion (62), Gospel Nwoka (45), Patricia Ziko (42) and Rogers Nwoka (28).

Speaking further, the po­lice boss said four patrol teams had been deployed to the community to beef up security and forestall re­prisal attack.

2 killed in Cross River

In Cross River State, two peope were reportedly killed in a fresh commu­nal clash between Nkpani and Nko communities in Yakurr Local Government Area of the state.

Investigations by Daily Sun indicated that one of those feared dead was from Ugep while the other came from Nkpani com­munity just as school and residential buildings were destroyed in both commu­nities.

An eyewitness told Daily Sun that trouble started following an al­leged killing of an Nkpani man, simply identified as Bassey Obol Lekam, along Calabar-Ugep-Ikom High­way around Nko Junction by Nko youths.

The witness said late Le­kam, a butcher, was said to have gone to Adun market last Friday, to buy pigs, but was killed while returning to Nkpani by Nko youths who were parading the axis with dangerous weapons.

Investigations also indi­cated that a motorcyclist identified as Friday from Afikpo, was also shot but escaped to Nkpani com­munity and announced the death of Lekam.

While Nkpani people mobilised for a reprisal, top government function­aries and security agents prevailed upon them to lay down their arms.

In the build up to the clash, both ends of Cala­bar-Ikom-Ogoja Federal Highway were blocked by irate youths bearing dan­gerous weapons and wield­ing locally made guns.

The incident was said to have heightened among the communities, fearing outbreak of full-scale war among Ugep, Nko and Nkpani communities all in the council area.

The state government, on Saturday, drafted a team of security opera­tives to the communities to avoid break down of law and order.

But, the crisis was said to have heightened yester­day morning when some youths from Nko allegedly attacked security opera­tives, Nkpani community, burnt a secondary school and destroyed a residential building.

In reprisal, the Nkpani youths also allegedly in­vaded Nko community and destroyed several resi­dential houses in the pro­cess.

Bayelsa records anoth­er 2 deaths

Similarly, in Bayelsa, two persons were feared dead and five others injured in a clash between supporters of All Progressives Con­gress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State at the weekend.

An account said trouble started during a wake in Nembe-Bassanbiri in hon­our of a popular indigene when PDP supporters, led by the Caretaker Chairman at the council, Walter Ku­roekigha began chanting party slogans, which alleg­edly provoked their APC counterparts.

Commissioner for In­formation and Orienta­tion, Jonathan Obuebite, however, claimed that the APC members became aggrieved after security agents arrested some of their colleagues, who were fingered in the killing of two soldiers and the ab­duction of an expatriate working for SETRACO Construction Company in Nembe.

He alleged that attempts to prevent the police from apprehending the culprits triggered the crisis leading to the attack of some PDP members in the area who were attending the wake.

A statement signed by the commissioner, howev­er, condemned the renewed violence in Nembe-Bas­sambiri of Nembe Local Government Area.

“We condemn in strong terms, the gruesome at­tack on members of the PDP or any citizen by the APC which has led to the death of one person and we say this is one attack too many.”