Four persons have been feared dead in Bayelsa State as a result of fresh bloody clashes involving rival cult groups in Yenagoa, the state capital.

It was gathered that three persons were killed around the Obele Street and the Arietalin Road in the Ovom suburb while one was gunned down at Osiri Road in the Ekeki area on Saturday night.

The fierce fights were said to have unsettled residents of the affected areas as many feared they could be caught in the crossfires.

According to sources, the separate cult wars started on June 3 and members of the Deywell and Bobos groups were reportedly involved in the attacks.

Some residents believed that the recent battles were as a result of supremacy tussle over ‘territorial encroachment’.

But unconfirmed reports claimed that the fights were sparked off by funds allegedly released to the groups by some politicians.

When contacted on Sunday, the spokesman for the Bayelsa State Police Command, SP Asinim Butswat, confirmed the cult clashes, saying the police had arrested four suspects.

He, however, said that only two casualties were recorded in the rivalries that occurred.

Butswat said, “We are aware (of the battles). The bodies our men saw and took to the mortuary were two. But we have arrested four persons.”