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The upsurge in cult activities in Nigeria in recent times deserves serious attention. In Ogun State, there is a curfew in Sagamu between 7pm and 6am on account of cult clashes. There are conflicting reports about the number of casualties. But some reports say about 20 people, including secondary school students who just resumed the new academic session, were killed. The police have arrested about nine suspects. The cult war in Ogun is said to be between Eiye and Aye confraternity groups.
In many other states, it is the same story. In May this year, two people were reported dead when two rival cult groups clashed in Orhuworun community in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. Last year, a group of suspected cultists stormed a funeral ceremony at Ebenebe, in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State. They shot and killed no fewer than 20 mourners. Not even the corpse was spared as they shot at it several times before mutilating it.
Cultism is also a menace in our tertiary institutions. There are different groups going by different names such as the Black Axe, Eiye Confraternity, the Buccaneers and so on. They engage in supremacy tussles on campus and strike on very flimsy reasons. The upsurge in cultism is a reflection of the desecration of family values in our society. Most parents don’t know and don’t care to know what their children do these days. Some of them are in endless pursuit of money such that they neglect the important role of moulding their children to be useful to society.
Youth unemployment is a contributory factor. Many of our youths graduate from school and remain idle for years. Hence, they transfer their energy to crime and create jobs for themselves in the crime industry. In most cases, the armed robbers or terrorists in our midst started as cultists.
They are emboldened more by hard drugs that make them lose value for human life. And because drugs and crime go together, they graduate to acquiring illegal arms and ammunition through different sources. Over six million illegal small arms are said to be in circulation in Nigeria. The former National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd), last year, supervised the symbolic destruction of over 3,000 illicit small and light weapons and associated materials in Kaduna. Some of these firearms are in the hands of these cultists. Several promises made by the police authorities in the past to mop up these illegal firearms have not yielded any meaningful dividend.
Consequently, we have continued to lose our promising young people to cultism and related crime. Some are not cultists but may be unlucky to be caught in the crossfire of a cult war. This is the story of the secondary school students reported killed in the recent cult war in Sagamu. Besides, business cannot grow in a society which thrives on cultism. The imposition of a curfew in Sagamu is a typical example. No doubt, this curfew will affect the smooth running of business in the area, and the crisis is capable of scaring away any potential investor or businessman in that environment.
If the problem is not nipped in the bud, more young men and women may see it as a way of life and decide to join cult groups. This is why every effort must be made to crush it anywhere it rears its ugly head in Nigeria.
There is need for enlightenment programmes against cultism. The National Orientation Agency, which appears moribund, can help in producing radio and television jingles that educate the youths on the evil effects of cultism. Security agencies should collaborate in sharing intelligence, which will aid in nabbing recalcitrant cultists. Whoever is caught should be made to face the full weight of the law.
Besides, the police should interrogate cultists who are already in their net with a view to unraveling those who are sponsoring them. Some of them repose their confidence in native doctors. A serious interrogation will reveal those native doctors who are encouraging them. They too should be dealt with according to the laws of the land.
The police hierarchy should fulfill its promise to mop up illegal arms and ammunition in the country. Our porous borders should be adequately manned and on no account should we condone policemen selling their weapons as has been noted in the recent past.
We cannot continue to condone crime in our society. We must avoid going the way of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia or Syria where gangsters rule. Criminals thrive because we allow them. The moment severe punishment is meted out to those found culpable, the menace will be drastically curbed.
