32 killed in pre-election violence in Nigerian oil state

WARRI, Nigeria — Nigeria’s governing party charged Thursday that at least 32 of its members have been shot, clubbed and beheaded to death in escalating violence as oil-rich Rivers state prepares for a rerun of legislative elections previously annulled amid fraud and killings.

The party denies responsibility and blames the spate of killings over two weeks on “satanic cult clashes,” according to state government spokesman Austin Tam George, who is also an official of the Democrats party.

Party members are “fast becoming an endangered species,” and fear will keep many from the March 19 polls for federal and state legislators in the southern state, it said in a statement.