Cult War: 13 dead as Black Axe and Red Axe clash

- The Nigeria Police Force confirms a clash between rival cult members in Jos

- Residents say the clash led to the death of 13 residents

- The police say a corpse was found under an overhead bridge

Thirteen residents of Jos have been reportedly killed in a clash by two rival cult groups, the Red Axe and Black Axe, according to information by residents of the affected area of the capital city of Plateau state in north-central Nigeria.

Premium Times reports that Terna Tyopev, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPC), Plateau state command, confirmed the clash but did not give the casualty figure.

Tyopev also said one corpse was found under an overhead bridge, along the Goodluck Jonathan Way, at Gadabiu, Jos North local government area.

“The cult boys were attacking and killing members of the public, but we learnt that they have began to kill themselves.

"The first incident occurred on Friday night. We have commenced underground investigations to unravel those in the cult, we shall reveal the identies soon.

“I do not have statistics of the deaths at the moment, but one of the corpses was found under the overhead bridge, at Gudabiu,” he said.

The report quoted Rogak Yilji, a resident of Kabong, where the clash occurred, as saying his neighbour was killed.

“They (cult members) killed 11 people Friday (May 4) night. On Sunday, two others were killed.

“One of the victims is somebody I am very familiar with. His death is rather unfortunate, because his younger brother who is (allegedly) in another cult group killed him,” he said.