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LAGOS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Five suspected cultists were killed in gun battles with security agents in Nigeria's oil rich Rivers State, the country's Army said Tuesday.
Spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Capt. Eli Lazarus, told Xinhua in Port Harcourt, capital of the southern state, that three of the suspected cultist camps were destroyed during the operation.
The army, a fortnight ago, said it would begin massive raids of cultists and criminal hideouts to stop killings in Rivers.
Between January and May, no fewer than 46 persons have been killed in cult-related clashes in different communities in the state.
High-level crimes, including kidnapping of expatriates and attacking of foreign oil company facilities, are frequently recorded in the southern part of Nigeria, especially the Niger Delta region where the youths mostly engage in secret cult activities. Enditem
