Calabar — Four suspected secret cult members said to be of the Neo African Movement (Black Axe Confraternity) in the University of Calabar were reportedly shot dead on Tuesday when police, acting on a tip-off, engaged the group in gun battle.

The suspected cultists were said to be engaged in a clash with another rival cult group in Calabar.

Briefing newsmen in Calabar, the Cross River State Police Command Commissioner, Mr Bashiru Azeez, confirmed the incident saying the suspected cultists when on a revenge mission over the murder of one of their members early this year.

He revealed that the cult members were cornered in their hide out where "blood stained cutlasses, canvass shoes, register containing the names and photographs of some of the members targetted for elimination" were recovered.

Azeez said the cult group drew their operational order, like the police, as they had their target, reason why they wanted to carry out their mission what the needed for the operation and what they had on ground.

The Police Commissioner said the aim of the cultists was to revenge their friend's death (Chaka de Zulu) who was assassinated on May 29, 2002 at his residence at 15, Eyo Ita Street, Calabar.

As contained in their operational order (guidelines), the target of the cultists was to eliminate those they called, Dansuki, Okwa, Selsa, Baba Ekpo, Orok Gregory, Orok Ekeng, Lemu, Manus, Ekpe Atai, Petaya, Obuma, M. C. Stone and Etiebet with stage two taking place at UNICAL and stage three at Calabar Polytechnic (POLYCAL).

The CP said the police were attracted by the shooting of the cult groups at their respective shrines and as such his (policemen) at Uwanse Street moved in to stem the situation.

"Why my men heard the gun shots, they moved immediately and engaged them in a gun battle. Two of them (cultists) were gunned down and a register was recovered from them," he said.

He explained that the police were still combing for the whereabouts of some of those people whose photographs and identity cards were in the register.