FEARS for the security and safety of lives and property have continued to heighten amongst resident of the capital city of Rivers State, Port Harcourt as rival cult groups rear up their ugly head wantonly killing their perceived enemies which are reminiscent of Rivers.

So far, no fewer than twelve persons have been gunned down in attacks and counter attacks.

The current onslaught, National Daily learnt started in the early hours of Wednesday Morning in Port Harcourt when some bad boys suspected to belong to the Iceland confraternity went for killing mission somewhere in Abuloma, the home base of the Greenlanders.

Eye witness that narrated his ordeal to National Daily and refused his name in print for obvious security implications said he was a victim of the nightly onslaught. He told the National Daily that, he was returning from a private hospital where he took his ailing child for urgent medical attention around midnight on the said day, when he was suddenly apprehended by some dare devil young men bearing heavily sophisticated weapons of mass destruction.

Having been accosted and ordered to lay flat face down, the fellow, about nine in number all bearing arms seized everything on him, especially his GSM handsets. ”When they were about to shoot me dead, one of them, whom I suspected was their leader ordered them not to shoot me, that if they shot, they would rouse the neighborhood and their mission would not be accomplished. So the one that was to shoot me stopped,” said the fellow.

Soon after he was allowed to breathe the free air of live, the young man said the killer squad masking their faces moved into a nearby building surrounded and broke into it, where they summarily captured five able-bodied young men and fired gunshots into their bodies that left all of them lifeless.

In his words, “as they were concentrating on their operations targets, I played the fast one, crept towards a bend of a building and ran away. When they saw me running they started shooting at me. I managed to escape by running and taking swift turns, since I am from the area. I am familiar with the terrain than they, so that was how God helped me to survive”.

He disclosed that from their body language, the killers were of the Okirika segment of Iceland cult group. This perhaps, explains why there was almost instant reprisal attack launched by suspected boys, who may have owed their allegiance to the Greenlanders operating from within the Abuloma area of Port Harcourt.

These attackers, without much-a-do struck back in the night of same Wednesday, making the Marine Base Okirika-Cemetery water side residential area of Port Harcourt, where they suspected may have been under the absolute control of the Icelanders unsafe for further habitation. The attacks, it was gathered saw seven young souls untimely flying, perhaps, to Hellfire, with evidence of terror still looming large in these areas.

Consequently, as if in curfew regime, residents resorted to restricting their movements, shutting their doors and going to sleep as early as 7 pm daily reminiscent of the 2003 2007 eras in the state. Similar fears saturate the atmosphere in Abuloma, where residents suspect further reprisals.

From within the cult circles, there are ghostly murmuring and clamoring for revenge, both ways with the Icelanders thinking they had lost more souls.

Within the operators of the Greenlanders, their aspiration is high that should, the Iceland group continues the deadly strikes, more hell will be let loose as soon as one of their leaders, currently receiving the federal government's amnesty training returns. That fellow, whose name is given simply as one of the opening chapters of the Holy Bible, is said to be the deadliest amongst the Greenlander operators and perhaps their arch leaders.

Residents who comment on this ugly development blame the government and security agencies on the resurgence of armed groups in the state, despite the implementation of the amnesty programme of the federal government, which was an adaptation and furtherance of the Rivers State's Social Rehabilitation Committee, headed by Chief A.K. Horsefall.

Both programmes of the state and federal governments had provided a platform for a reasonable number of Rivers State and Niger Delta youths to surrender their arm/ammunitions for given themselves for social rehabilitation and reintegration back to the good side of the society.

While all those who are part of those reintegration packages continue to receive monthly pays, many more of them have under gone national and foreign trainings and scholarships for further education abroad. And now the questions that many ask is who are those still bearing and killing with arms and where are these arms coming from.

It could be recalled that before the amnesty period, the Icelanders trace their leader their leadership to Comrade Ateke Tom who was also the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante and the slain Soboma George, while the Greenlander owed their leadership traits to slain Sunny opuambe, leader of the Bush boys of Okirika, who was also gunned down in cold blood somewhere along Amadiama/Abuloma reas.

The Rivers State Police Public Relation Officer, Mr. Ben Ogwuegbulam has declined comments on what the security implication of the situation and whether or not police had effected any arrest relating to the killings.