Amnesty International yesterday linked the killings and what has been described as cult violence in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to the presence of terrorist groups in Nigeria and urged the government to clamp down on them before it is too late.
No fewer than 80 people have been reported killed by rampaging militia men and cultists in recent times in different parts of Rivers State especially Port Harcourt.
The armed gangs raid mostly drinking joints in the state capital, killing people and torching houses.
Asari Dokubo, leader of one of the militia groups involved in the violence said in an interview published in the latest edition of The News magazine that the most wanted international terrrorist, Osama bin Laden, was his hero.
But yesterday Amnesty International, Nigeria (Group 17) said it had observed an ugly trend in violence by organised groups, especially ethnic based organisations and expressed apprehension that what may be termed communal violence by ethnic militia groups today may snowball into a severe security threat in the future.
"We use this occasion to draw the attention of American and Britain, as the leading agents in the fight against terrorism, of the presence of advanced terrorists in Nigeria. Here we nickname it 'cultism' but a handful few know their origin, source of their strength and the reason for thriving," said John Lar- Wisa, the secretary to the human rights group.
In a veiled reference to the violence in Rivers State where the Dokubo-led Niger Delta Volunteer Force is killing people and burning houses, Amnesty International expres-sed dismay that heavy casualties and destruction of property was being perpetrated by a group hitherto established by the political elite in that state for selfish political gains.
"We have witnessed what the Nigerian government and uninformed citizens termed communal clash' in times past, which resulted in the gruesome and unjust murder of some perceived enemies of the State.
"Here again is yet another syndicate or formation rearing its ugly head against the existence of certain group of persons. They have over stepped their limits and State funds must be spent to curtail their excesses.
"We may not quickly forget that America had once used the terrorist to achieve its goals in the past, but because they overstepped their boundaries by biting the finger that fed them, they must be crushed. History has a way of repeating itself, generations after, but the problem of man is that we never learn from others' (or our) mistakes," Lar-Wisa stated.
The human rights group expressed delight that the Nigeria government has stepped up action to checkmate the gangsters in Port- Harcourt, but urged the Federal Government to use its full might to bring those behind the terrorist attacks to book before more groups emerged and act with greater impunity.
Amnesty International Nigeria also condoled the families of all those who lost their lives in the September 11,2001 attack on New York and Washington, but pleaded with the Nigerian government, to 'smoke out' the local terrorists now than wait till their menace becomes unbearable.