Many people were feared killed in fresh violence near Port Harcourt, the oil-rich southern Nigerian city, at the weekend, police and press reports said on Tuesday.
”There was an incident at Buguma on Sunday. We heard many people were killed, but I cannot confirm the figure at the moment,” said Rivers State police spokesperson Ireju Barasua.
She said anti-riot policemen have been deployed to the troubled Ijaw community following the clashes between two rival street gangs.
According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, 30 people were feared killed during the violence.
Fighting broke out when one street gang launched a reprisal attack on suspected members of another gang believed to have murdered the rival gang’s leader last week, the paper said.
The paper said the two gangs have been at loggerheads over which has the right to collect compensation from Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell after a recent oil spill in the community.
The incident was the latest in the oil-rich state where ethnic and street violence have left dozens dead in recent weeks.
Last week, a traditional ruler and many people were believed to have been killed over land rights in Gbukuma, another oil-rich Ijaw community. — Sapa-AFP