From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The failure of the Bayelsa State Anti-Cult Law to curb the activities of cultists in the state is a source of worry to residents of the state, especially those living in Yenagoa, capital of the state. Residents have now returned to the period when Yenagoa bore the ugly status of a city under siege.
Cultists battling for supremacy are on the rampage. Staccato gunshots and sights of residents running helter-skelter have again returned as part of daily life in the state. Life has suddenly become nasty, short and brutish. From Igbogene to Agudama-Epie to Tombia, Amarata, Obele to Swali, the cultists’ battle for supremacy has turned Yenagoa into a theatre of bloodshed.
The history of the Bayelsa State Anti-Cult Law began in 2012, shortly after Senator Henry Seriake Dickson assumed office as governor. To rein in the cultists who had seized the state by the jugular, Dickson’s first task was to send an executive bill to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, christened: Bayelsa State Secret Cult, Kidnapping and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Bill, 2012.
The law listed the names of cult groups prohibited in the state and prescribed a 10-year jail term or an option of a fine for anybody caught involved in cultism. Dickson did not waste time signing the bill in his bid to eradicate cultism from the state.
On March 15, 2012, Dickson signed the bill into law and made it clear that his government had “no room for criminality and violence.” He noted that the “consequences of this law are very severe” because “security operatives now have the authority to go after all those who are members of cult groups listed in the law.”
The law gave sweeping powers to the state government and the law enforcement agencies to clamp down on cultists and their accomplices. It also provided a lifeline for cultists to renounce cultism and be beneficiaries of the state government’s amnesty.
Six years after he signed the bill into law and with some unsatisfactory provisions spotted, which had hindered it from frontally tackling the issue of cultism, Dickson also signed an amendment to the law on March 26, 2018. The amended law increased the jail term for cultists to 20 years.
Dickson, who admitted that the amendment was necessary to check the rising cases of cultists, which the original law had not been able to do, declared that the law now empowered security agencies to deal with cultists and their sponsors. Such powers enshrined in the amended law include arrest without warrant, stop and search, destruction of property, and mandatory imprisonment, which foreclosed the option of a fine.
While the law had raised hopes of residents of Yenagoa and other parts of the state traumatised by cult activities, investigations over the years have revealed that it has underperformed in its mission to eradicate cultism in Bayelsa State. Cultists have become daring in their ruthlessness, further carving Yenagoa into different territories of control, killing at will, and enthroning a climate of fear.
Undeniably, the incumbent governor, Senator Douye Diri, had also made it clear that his government would not condone crime and criminality. The consensus, however, is that the Bayelsa State Anti-Cult law has not proven to be an antidote to the increasing wave of cultism in the state. More worrisome is that cultism has continued to thrive, prompting residents of Bayelsa, especially in Yenagoa, to ask why the state government and the security agencies, especially the police, have developed cold feet to clamp down on cultism and related activities using the instrument of the law.
A combination of factors, ranging from a lack of will by security agencies, particularly the police, to tackle cultism, absence of a clear strategy by the Bayelsa State government, and the slow pace of the criminal justice system in the state have made the anti- cult law a paper tiger.
For instance, the state government has the Bayelsa Volunteers, Bayelsa Vigilante, and the Bayelsa Community Safety Corps, all designed to complement the efforts of the security agencies in tackling security challenges. Though the Bayelsa Volunteers have been effective in arresting petty pickpockets, their foray in combating cultism has been unimpressive.
The government has not relented in assuring the people of adequate protection of lives and properties. Recently, on April 22, Diri received new heads of security agencies at the Government House, where he promised again that his administration would collaborate with them to “protect lives and property.” But such declarations have become routine talk to residents of Yenagoa due to the unchecked activities of cultists.
On Easter Day, 48 hours before Diri received the new heads of security agencies, four people were gunned down at Swali, a suburb of Yenagoa. The killers escaped, and to date no arrest has been made. A few days after that shooting, there were reprisals with at least three people, including a notorious gang leader, killed by suspected cultists.
Before the Easter Day massacre, in January, three people were killed at Igbogene by suspected cultists. Curiously, rather than smoke the cultists out of their hiding place, a peace talk was reportedly initiated as a conflict resolution mechanism that brokered peace between the warring groups. The cult heads were said to have signed an undertaking to maintain peace with a caveat that the police should hold them responsible if any cult killing is recorded again in the state.
Checks indicated that between the peace meeting and now, 12 people have been killed in cult clashes and residents are wondering why the police are still waiting to do their job and visit the full wrath of the law on the cult leaders.
The chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation in Bayelsa State, Comrade David West, has lamented the inability of government and security agencies to clamp down on cultists. He decried what he called government interference in setting up peace talks among cult groups and also freeing those arrested for cult-related activities. According to him, the only way to eradicate cultism in Bayelsa is to ensure those arrested are prosecuted and jailed.
He said: “The only way to solve this problem is that when these boys are arrested, they should be made to face the full wrath of the law and prosecuted. Also, this idea of peace talks whenever there are cult clashes should cease. These peace talks are usually in the form of a payment of money to maintain peace. The law should be allowed to take its course against the suspected cultists.
“Recently, during the cult clash at Igbogene, some people were killed. There were reports that a peace committee has been set up. The relevant authorities should stop pampering cultists with peace talks.
“What is the battle of supremacy about? They fight over who controls the Swali abattoir, the Swali market, and Igbogene Park. The security agencies and government know these guys are cultists, so why not let them have their day in court, prosecute them, and send them to the correctional centre? Those that they have killed, who is going to do peace talks with them?”
West accused the political class of being behind the non-prosecution of cultists and their controversial release anytime they are arrested.
“The political class is among those who influence the release of cultists anytime they are arrested. During elections, the politicians go to the prison and ensure that some detainees they want to use for elections are released for their ungodly acts. Certainly, our criminal justice system must be strengthened. There should also be no interference from government, or traditional rulers. The law must be allowed to work,” he added.
The Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Alonyenu Francis Idu, recently alluded to the role influence plays in the release of cultists. According to him, the leader of the Bobos cult group, Olotu Wanemi Omubo, who was killed recently by his gang members, was let off the hook because of influence.
“It is on good authority that the deceased has been involved in nefarious activities. The last altercation with the police was over the issue of illegal gun possession.
“He was controversially influenced to be let off the hook, and that is why I have always said that when you influence the release of a criminal, you are building a disastrous effect,” he said.
Ebimoboere Douglas, a resident of Amarata, said if the government summoned the required political will, the state would be able to ensure all those arrested by the police are prosecuted diligently.
“Everything depends on the government. If suspected cultists are arrested and the government ensures nobody, no matter how highly placed, is allowed to bail them, and the Ministry of Justice and the police are given free hand to prosecute, there will be sanity in the state. Cultism only thrives because the government condones it,” he said.
Former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the state, Udengs Eradiri, in a statement, also condemned what he described as the resurgence of cult killings in the state. While decrying the state of siege Yenagoa has been plunged into by cultists in their battle for supremacy, he expressed sadness over the way cultists were hacking down promising youths and leaders in the state with impunity and without adequate response from security agencies.
Eradiri equally noted that the government seemed helpless as hoodlums overran the state, especially Yenagoa, hunting down their perceived enemies, including some of the governor’s appointees.
He called on security agencies to rise to their responsibilities and stop the bloodletting, which he said was giving the state a bad image.
“I am saddened by the resurgence of cult-related killings in my dear Bayelsa State, especially Yenagoa, the state capital. Cultists are running amok, hacking down their perceived enemies while security agencies and the government stand arms akimbo, helpless.
“It is high time we stopped this unnecessary wastage of human lives. Security agencies must rise to their responsibilities of protecting lives, and the government must embrace genuine youth empowerment and development beyond handing down meaningless appointments to youths.
“The government should keep the youths busy with quick-win direct labour projects every month. There must be a genuine agro support scheme and contract supplies to support the road construction companies doing work in the state.
“This approach is not rocket science. The government can create labour projects every month and keep the youth busy with them. It will create jobs for the youth and divert their attention from evil intentions. These killings must stop because they are giving our state a bad image. Enough is enough,” he stated.
Idu has, however, assured residents of the state that soon cult killings would be a thing of the past. Residents of Yenagoa and its environs desperately hope the words of the commissioner of police are not mere hot air.