From campuses to streets: Sad tales of unending scourge of cultism

…Stakeholders explain upsurge, list ways to combat scourge

Ladesope Ladelokun

Until his friend, Muyiwa Jumobi, was cut down in his prime by cultists suspected to be members of the Eiye confraternity, Bolade Kalejaiye only read and heard about hapless citizens who are hacked and dispatched to early graves by the lethal weapons of cultists.

But alas, what appeared like a horror movie unfolded before his eyes when a normal visit to a friend yielded tearful tales of sorrow and blood.

Bolade had alongside his bosom friends – Dolapo Adeogun and Jumobi Muyiwa – converged on the Surulere residence of Abimbola Amosu to unwind,

but their fun was not only cut short when young men who were armed to the teeth stormed Amosu’s residence and unleashed mayhem, leaving Amosu with various degrees of injuries and Jumobi lifeless.

Just recently, April 14, 2019 precisely, no fewer than four human heads were reportedly harvested by the Nigeria Police at the Sangotedo area of Ajah in Lagos following a cult clash between men suspected to be members of Eiye confraternity and an unidentified rival cult.

Only this week in Rivers State, the murder of a senior member of Bobos cult group reportedly provoked series of clashes between Greenlanders and Bobos cult groups, leaving five suspected cultists dead.

In recent times, security issues like banditry, kidnapping, insurgency have been a source of worry for many across Nigeria.

But cultism, which some observers say is as old as the country, has over the years been another source of sorrow and tears for law-abiding Nigerians.

From the streets of Lagos to the creeks of Bayelsa, Rivers to Ogun, Oyo to Delta, reported and unreported cases of bloody cult clashes have become commonplace, The Daily Times has gathered.

According to Wikipedia, confraternities on Nigerian campuses began in 1952 when Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and a group of six friends formed the Pyrate confraternity at the University College, Ibadan.

It notes that membership was open to any promising male student, regardless of tribe or race, but selection was stringent and most applicants were denied.

Soyinka had said the Pyrates wanted to differentiate themselves from “stodgy establishment and its pretentious products in a new educational institution different from a culture of hypocritical and affluent middle-class, different from alienated colonial aristocrats.”

Also, in 1975, The Supreme Eiye Confraternity (also known as the National Association of Air Lords), was formed in the University of Ibadan. In the 80s, however, confraternities spread to over 300 institutions of higher education like a wild fire.

Meanwhile, bloody cult clashes outside higher institutions of learning, some argue, bear testimony to the arrival of confraternities on the streets of Nigeria and its creeks.

While some Nigerians have blamed politicians and eroding values for the rising spectre of violence occasioned by cult clashes, many have blamed it on the state of the economy.

For Dr. Jimi Akoni, a psychologist, the menace can be traced to poverty, unemployment and ignorance.

According to him, not many of the cultists knew the implications of what were getting into before initiation.

He said the grinding poverty and unemployment rate in the land could make them easy prey or recruits.

He, however, called on parents to always be on hand to impart the right values to their children.

Akoni said there was need for parents to create time for their children in order to pay attention to their development, the kind of friends they have and the early signs that things are going wrong, and most importantly, work on their self-confidence.

Commenting, Human rights activist and public affairs commentator, Barrister Inibehe Effiong, described the scourge as an indication of the decay of values.

Effiong accused politically exposed persons for fuelling the menace, calling on security agencies to show sincerity in tackling it.

“It is due to the culture of impunity in the country. The cultists who commit this crime across the country, across the various campuses, in many instances are believed to be sponsored by people in government.

They have godfathers who protect them. It is also an indication of decay of values as a people.

That is why you see people who ordinarily ought to be studying in classes taking up arms and seeking to belong to one cult group or the other.”

He continued:”My view is that for the crisis to be tackled effectively, it is important for the security agencies to be sincere in deciding on investigating the sponsors of these cult groups.

So I’m calling for a complete overhaul of the security architecture as far as the menace of cultism is concerned.

“The politicians are the ones arming them. They are the people who buy these guns for them. An average cultist ordinarily would not have the resources to acquire weapons and commit havoc.

Until we deal with the root causes and address the decay of values in Nigeria and the culture of impunity, it will be difficult to rid our society of the menace of cultism.”