Her heart still aches of the wound she suffered about six months ago when her husband, Sheriff Sani, was shot dead in their apartment. Their only child was just 23 days old then when some cult members stormed their residence in Imota, Ikorodu area of Lagos and snuffed life out of the 40-year-old surveyor.
At 23 and with a tender baby deserving all the care parenting could afford, Temitope Sani suddenly found herself in widowhood and shouldered the parental burden all alone. That cruel fate wasn’t what she bargained for when she married Sani in 2018. With the care and love he showered on her, she had no cause to think her husband was a suspected cult member the police tagged him, let alone anticipate the tragedy that struck on Sunday, September 1, 2019.
A cult clash between Eye and Aiye members disrupted the oro festival held in the community that day, resulting in the gruesome killing of Sani and three others.
“The dress he wore that day was the uniform clothes (aso ebi) used for his mother burial. His mother died about a year ago,” said Temitope whose looks betrayed emotions.
“I was in my room while he was in his apartment sleeping. All of a sudden, some hoodlums stormed our compound and attacked him. We could not come out until they left. He was a surveyor; I didn’t know him as a cult member. He was a loving father and husband,” she said moodily.
While Sani’s case is touchy, Pascal Ahanotus was an unsuspecting victim of the September 2019 bloody cult clash in Ifako, Lagos. Popularly known as Nene, the 22-year-old was a graphic artist, a cartoonist and budding model.
His bright future petered out on September 10 when he was caught up in a rival cult fight on his way to a cybercafé around 7pm, leaving his poor parents and siblings in perpetual grief.
The hoodlums had accosted Nene and robbed him of his phone. They stabbed him in the neck when he reportedly put up a resistance.
“My brother was kind. Our mother counted on him so much and he promised to make her proud with his work. She was a food vendor and my father works at a motor park in Ikorodu.
“Nene was the one who bought the television we use at home. He just finished National Diploma at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu. He studied Business Administration,” the deceased’s younger brother, Ifeanyi, had told our correspondent.
“This was a gentle young man who had a lot to achieve in life. They just cut his life short,” he added.
Cult wars in the state and other parts of the country have been overwhelming over the years with cultists unleashing terror in renewed attacks despite police effort to quell their violent activities.
Endless bloody fights
The recent cult clashes in Ogudu, Oyingbo, Ebute Meta, Mile 12 and Ikorodu areas of Lagos, have claimed lives and created anxieties in the neighbourhoods.
On Wednesday January 22, 2020 about seven people were reportedly killed during a melee between two rival cults in the Ijede area of Ikorodu, Lagos State. Members of Aiye and Eiye confraternities locked horns with one another in supremacy battle that left at least three people dead.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, who confirmed the incident, told the News Agency of Nigeria, that the KK and Eiye confraternities were involved in the clash, adding that 10 suspects were arrested.
Unfortunately, the arrest was not enough to deter cult members from embarking on renewed hostilities on February 23, 2020, at Ladega and Laketu areas of Ikorodu
The clashes reportedly started when suspected members of the Aiye cult invaded Ladega around 10am on Sunday and allegedly shot two rival members dead.
In a reprisal, suspected members of the Eiye cult shot a rival member dead in Laketu around 5pm that same day.
“The clash was between the Eiye and Aiye cult members. Two people were killed in Ladega around 10am and later in the day one person was killed in Laketu. All the attacks happened on Sunday. The family members of one of the victims have recovered his corpse. We are on our way to apprehend those who perpetrated the crime,” the Deputy Commander of the Onyabo Vigilante Group, Olanrewaju Olabinjo, had said.
Two days earlier, Mile 12 – a community bordering Ikorodu – had been in turmoil over a cult clash.
It was learnt that the fight broke out around 1pm after some Aiye cult members invaded the neighbourhood on the account that their rival group had a hand in the arrest of their leader arraigned in court earlier that Friday.
Before policemen from Ketu Police Station arrived at the scene, two persons had been hacked to death.
A police source told our correspondent that a corpse was recovered from the scene while the leader of Aiye group, one Jakaba, was arrested.
The source said, “The leader of Aiye was earlier arrested at Alapere and he was taken to court. As a reprisal, his men went on the rampage and attacked Eiye group. I learnt two persons were killed but police only saw one corpse which was evacuated to the mortuary. The hoodlums took away the second corpse before police arrived.”
In January 2020, Ogudu and Ojota areas were hotbeds for cult menace. Four persons were reportedly killed and the neighbourhoods were plunged into confusion.
Although, the police made arrests in the areas, residents are still in trepidation of imminent attacks if the suspects are released.
A resident of Ogudu, Oluwadare Saka, said the majority of the cult members were teenagers, adding that some parents, with children in cultism, were indifferent about it.
“They would just start fighting one another without any reason. Many of them, especially the leaders, were arrested in February. Since then, we have been enjoying some peace. Those boys are still on the ground, waiting for their leaders to be released so they can resume the fight.
“As it is now, strangers cannot walk around anyhow. Recently, they confronted a man around Oresanya for wearing black shirt. They said they liked the shirt and asked him to bring it but the man refused. They traced him to his house and beat him up. They also robbed him of his valuables,” he added.
Violent attacks defying peace move
In the heat of cult crises in the state in 2017, the then Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, initiated a peace move which saw hundreds of cultists in Ijede and Imota areas of Ikorodu denouncing their membership.
Our correspondent, who covered the Imota event, reported how some youths smoked a substance suspected to be Indian hemp to celebrate the renunciation. The doubt such act cast on the renunciation manifested on September 2019 when Sani and three others were killed during oro festival in the community. Worse still, parents raised the alarm that school children were being coerced to join deadly cult groups.
A parent, who gave his name only as Samuel, had in a recent interview with Saturday PUNCH narrated how his child nearly got into the fold of “the bad guys.”
He said, “The major issue we have is that those boys are forcefully initiating pupils who are in junior classes. They will waylay them, beat them up and warn them not to tell their parents. That is the beginning of the initiation process. As a responsible parent, you have to closely monitor your children in the community from home to the school. I handed over my child to his teacher for proper monitoring and asked him to inform me whenever he is not in school.
“One evening, my wife sent our son on an errand. They ambushed him and beat him up. He told me when he got home and I immediately went to meet the mother of one of the cult members he identified. I told the woman to warn her child to stay off my son. That boy had been expelled from school.”
The Chairman, Imota Local Council Development Area, Mr Wasiu Agoro, described Samuel’s claim as ‘very true’ in a chat with our correspondent.
He, however, said some parents aided cultism by giving bribes to bail arrested cult members from police custody.
Agoro had said, “The parents are the number one factor fuelling cultism. Like Yoruba will say, ‘your child is not into laundry yet he brings many clothes home,’ and you are not asking questions. Whenever the children are arrested, they would sell lands to raise funds to bail them at police stations.
“I advised them during a forum that instead of using the money to bail them, why not use it to train the children. The parents are the ones giving them information that police are coming after them.
“The children won’t go to school or learn any trade; what do you expect them to become? You will see young boys of 14 piercing their ears and moving around and the parents will not bother.”
Residents in fear over renewed attacks
As a result of police raids and arrests, relative peace returned to some of the Lagos communities infamous for cult fights. However, resurgence in cult war in communities such as Imota, Ebute-Meta, Oyingbo, has reversed such feat and plunged residents back to panic mode.
About six months after the September 2019 attack in Imota which led to Sani’s death, the community was thrown into confusion again on Sunday and Tuesday.
“The cult members clashed again on Sunday and Tuesday and two persons were killed on each occasion. One of the deceased is called Eyin Ejo. The Sunday clash occurred at Idumaja while the other one happened on Araromi Street around 8pm. Fear has returned to the community now. The SARS operatives at the Imota junction have left; that is what gave those boys the guts to strike,” a resident, who identified himself only as Tolu, told Saturday PUNCH.
A community leader in Itire, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said cult clashes had given way to street robbery in the neighbourhood following the arrest of a cult leader popularly known as Maliki.
“The clash has reduced drastically since they arrested the cult leader. But his members have resorted to robbery. They would invade streets and collect phones and money from people. The recent one occurred in the early hours of last Sunday along Itire Road. They ambushed some people returning home from Maolud Nabiyy (celebration of Prophet’s birthday) held on Oyewuwo Street.
“Apart from Itire Road, They usually loiter around Ishaga Close bus stop, Morgan Street and Akanro junction and they operate between 5am and 6am,” he said.
But a resident and local security official in Lagos Mainland covering Oyingbo and Ebute-Meta, Mr Musbau Agbodemu, said cultists now wreak havocs ‘almost every day.’
He identified the hotbeds of the mayhem as Simpson Street, Evans Square, Oko-Baba, Ojurin and Freeman Street, adding they cashed in on the clashes to loot shops and rob people.
Agbodemu stated, “Those boys are presently disturbing the peace of Mainland. They use the opportunity to loot shops even in broad daylight. The more we chase them, the more they multiply. They even invite their gang members from Mushin, Fadeyi and Ijora to join them in the fight.
“We work with Denton Police Station and they are trying their best but it is not enough. There should be persistent raiding of the hoodlums’ hideouts by the police. It shouldn’t only be when they start fomenting trouble.
“People live in fear and their safety is no longer guaranteed. On Tuesday afternoon, Boys from Freeman and Oloto went to Cemetery to rob shop owners and passersby.”
Cult clashes drastically reduced in Lagos – Police
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, DSP Bala Elkana, said the command had considerably phased out cult clashes in major parts of the state following the formation of Special Strike Force on Social Miscreants by the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, in November 2019.
He said, “Cult fights have reduced drastically in places like Bariga, Oworonshoki and Ketu. Cultism is no longer a major issue in Lagos because the hoodlums have been dealt with. The Special Strike Force on Social Miscreants work closely with locals in line with community policing model.
“The team identifies their hideouts and takes the battle to them. We have arrested well over 800 suspects, including leaders of the cult groups since the team was inaugurated in November. Mile 12 and part of Ikorodu are the focus of attention now and we have made many arrests. We still have officers in areas we have conquered.”
Experts seek holistic solutions
However, security experts noted that there was a need for holistic approach to addressing the dangers of cultism in society.
The President, National Association of Criminologists and Security Practitioners of Nigeria, Mr Williams Ekposon, said the process of eradicating cultism should start from family.
He said, “The family is the nucleus of society. We have to start at the grass-roots. To an extent, every child is a product of parents; so charity begins at home. It boils down to individual families which form society. After that, we have to look at the agents of socialisation. The behavioural patterns of those children interact with in schools also have influences on their psyche.
“Talking of schooling, certain programmes have to be incorporated in the curricula at primary and secondary schools to groom children to have awareness on the menace. Cultism itself is a virus. If you want to eradicate the menace, it means educational programmes on it are desirable.”
Ekposon also urged government at all levels to come up with legislations to abolish cultism, noting that such would empower security agencies to enact laws that would tackle the menace headlong.
He added, “We need to look at how cultism is categorised; is it a ‘bailable’ offence or not? Is there substantial evidence to prove the case beyond reasonable doubts to get the suspect convicted?”
A professor of Child/Social Psychology at the Enugu State University, Regina Ndinekwumma, said teenagers cultists have endemic problem within the family.
She blamed the trend on the failure of parents, especially fathers, to dedicate ample time to inculcating values in their children.
She said, “When there is no love lost between a child and his father, he turns to his friends. If the parents are not available or there is hostility in the family, the child is put off. He will find other friends who might mislead him.
“Any child must have the values of the parents and that of the peer group. But when the parents are not there or he is not happy with them, then he drops the values of the parents and embrace the values of only the peer group. Whatever the peer group does is what he does. Children who fall for peer group pressure are the ones who are not happy with their fathers.
“If children are happy with their fathers, you will know. They will go about calling, ‘my daddy.’ But if a child does not get care from his father, he will transfer that hostility to other male adults in the authorities – the police, soldiers. And when there are many of them, they form a clique. So in attacking society, they are actually attacking their fathers.”
A professor of Criminology at the University of Abuja, Philomena Ozo-Eson, noted that high rate of unemployment in the country was among the factors fuelling cultism.
She enjoined government to engage the youth in gainful employment, noting that criminality usually found recruits among idle people.
Ozo-Eson stated, “If it were in those days in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s when people complete university and sure of good accommodation, job and a car, you find out that people wanted to lead a descent life.”
The scholar explained that the involvement of schoolchildren and youths in cultism was the backlash of living in chaotic society. She called for setting of standard social goals and urged the political class to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
She said, “There is a breakdown of rules and regulation. We are facing a situation of ‘normlessness.’ If you are living in a chaotic society, it tickles down to children in primary and secondary schools. A chaotic society will also produce chaotic children. When you are living in a society like this, you can’t really expect much from anybody. And the ruling class is not exempted. They use youths for their campaign and after election.”
Cult war ravages Bayelsa
Cult-related clashes have not abated in Bayelsa State despite an existing law prohibiting cultism and similar vices in the state, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
Apart from Lagos and Bayelsa states, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ogun among other states have been in the throes of cultism.
Investigation showed that four major cult groups operate in Bayelsa. They are the Icelanders, Greenlanders, Debam and Bobos. They control territories, especially around Yenagoa, the state capital.
In March, 2018, the immediate past governor of the state, Seriake Dickson signed the “Secret Cult, Societies and Similar Activities Prohibition (Amendment) Law, 2018” following its passage by the state House of Assembly.
It was an amendment to the “Bayelsa State Secret Cult, Kidnapping and Similar Offences Law, 2012”, one of the laws by Dickson.
The amended anti-cultism law prescribes 20 years jail term for offenders convicted, without any option of fine. It empowers the police and other law enforcement agencies to conduct search on vehicles, tricycles, boats, the homes of suspected cultists and sponsors, even without warrant, while buildings and premises used for cult activities, initiations and storage of arms and dangerous weapons, will be forfeited to the government.
The law equally empowers the state government to demolish such buildings and premises without any compensation to its owners, among other provisions.
Concerned stakeholders believed that poor implementation, among other factors, were responsible for the ineffectiveness of the law.
But in spite of the renewed vigour in the fight against cultism in the state, the cult groups have become bolder in perpetrating crimes. Some of the cultists were said to be members of multiple cult groups which they consider ‘friendly’ and this is determined by their relocation of residence from one area of the city to another.
The state recorded brutal incidents lately leading to loss of lives, including that of security officers. For instance, in October 2018, the state police command confirmed the killing of three civilians and one policeman following two separate incidents of rival cult clashes in Yenagoa and Otuasega.
In June 2019, five cultists lost their lives when members of the Greenlanders and the Debam engaged in a supremacy battle. Also, in January 2020, one Stanley Oweibele, 25, lost his life during a clash between two rival cult groups. Earlier in March 2016, three students of the state-owned Niger Delta University were brutally killed in a cult clash.
Another victim, Seiyefa Fred, a 100-level Mathematics student the NDU, was killed by two suspected cult members during a robbery incident in Yenagoa in November 2018. Two masterminds of the attack were eventually arrested following investigation into the crime. One of them confessed to be a member of the Greenlanders during interrogation by the police.
Also, in August 2013, Miss Folakemi Akinbode, undergoing the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps programme in Bayelsa State, was ambushed and brutally attacked by some cultists who nearly cut off her right arm at Obunagha in the Yenagoa Local Government Area.
Speaking on the menace of cultism in the state, a resident, Mirabel Azibanator, attributed the cult clashes and other social vices in the state to poor upbringing of youths by their parents and guardians.
According to her, exorbitant tuition fees in higher institutions also contributing to the involvement of youths in cultism.
She also said peer pressure was another factor responsible for the increasing number of youths involved in cultism.
Azibanator said, “Some parents don’t guide their children the way they are supposed to do. They only give birth to children and leave them to fend for themselves.”
Another resident, Tarinyo Akono, described cultism-induced insecurity in Bayelsa State as ‘pathetic.’
Akono, who is a former state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, said the collapse of family values had increased the participation of youths in cult-related activities.
He said, “Once a child is not directed properly, the child finds their way into criminality and cultism.
“It’s a pathetic situation and the government is not helping matters. Many parents don’t have money to send their children to school. That’s why we advocate that there should be free education so that young boys and girls can go to school compulsorily, and then parents will be able to monitor them while in school.’’
Akono urged the government to pay attention to free education and initiate programmes that would channel youths’ energies into productive ventures.
He stated that there was ‘gangsterism’ type of cultism where some youths would harass people on streets.
The Head of field operations at the Bayelsa State office of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Alagoa Morris, described cultism as “a phenomenon in our society and gathering momentum like wildfire.”
Morris stated that cultism had infiltrated primary and secondary schools in the state.
He said, “In Bayelsa State, there was a rumour that some cultists came out in the afternoon and marched round the streets around Amarata; showcasing their names and symbols.
“The way things are going, government has not given the issue desired attention. Cultists may be granted amnesty sometimes in future after holding society to ransom.
“Some politicians are also part of it. Cultism is one of the vices destroying age-long cultural norms like respect for elders and constituted authorities. I had to withdraw my children from a secondary school that has a notoriety for cultism.
“Cult groups tend to be lawless as they kill members of rival gangs in the streets or campuses. ”
The state police command said it had been able to identify the leaders of the various cult groups and working to break their ranks.
It, however, said the process of arresting suspected cultists had been a bit tough because of lack of convincing evidence to back up their prosecution.
The spokesman for the police command, Asinim Butswat, said intelligence gathering and proper monitoring of their activities, especially the initiation of new cult members, were scenarios that provide evidences for the police to apprehend suspected cultists.
He said, “Basically, these are what we are doing and we have profiled many of them. For those we’ve arrested, they are in detention and investigations are ongoing while in some cases they have been charged.
“There is also another problem of trying to differentiate between cultists, armed robbers and kidnappers. In most cases when you catch somebody for a particular criminal offence, maybe armed robbery or kidnapping, he will just want to hide under the guise of cultism because we may not have enough evidence to prosecute a cultist.
“But if you are a cultist and you commit a particular crime, we will have enough evidence to prosecute you alongside robbery case and cultism or alongside murder and cultism.’’
Butswat added that almost all the suspects the command arrested for stealing, armed robbery or kidnapping always confessed membership of a particular cult group.