Cultism: Concerns as Politicians, students, and others glorify the actions of some organizations.

Oke Ademiju, a final year Political Science student at Osun State University, UNIOSUN, was scheduled to write his last papers as a Political Science student a few weeks before he was beaten by suspected cultists for refusing to join their group.

According to eyewitnesses, Ademiju was assaulted with cutlasses, stones, and then set ablaze by his assailants before locals came to his aid.

"Oke Ademiju Victor maintained yelling that he was not going to join any cult," his school's official report claimed, "but his assailants proceeded to pound him with cutlasses, hard stones, and even attempted to light him ablaze, partially succeeding until he was rescued."

While his classmates graduated from university, Ademiju was unable to complete his final papers since he was sick as a result of the cult attack.

Many, however, believe the ambitious political scientist is fortunate to be alive, since many others have died or been permanently disabled for daring to refuse the reckless cultists' request.

Sylvester Oromoni, a 12-year-old boy, was recently beaten in his dormitory for reportedly refusing to join a cult gang in a secondary school.

Many people have died in fights between opposing cult organizations seeking domination. Cults sometimes use the number of fatalities documented by a gang as a measure of supremacy, depriving life of all its significance.

Some parents are now hesitant to send their children to boarding schools or even higher education institutions for fear of their children being forcedly introduced into cult organizations.

Bullying, drug peddling, and prostitution have also been identified as some of the problems to be addressed in Nigerian schools by keen observers of the educational system.

A recent BBC Africa Eye report accused cult organizations of masterminding unlawful actions.

According to the report, many brutal killings and armed robberies in Nigeria have been linked to dreaded organizations such as The Neo-Black Movement of Africa (also known as Black Axe); Eiye Confraternity; The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrate Confraternity); Vikings Confraternity; Brothers Across Nigeria (BAN) or National Association of Sealords also known as Buccaneers Confraternity; and others.

This is the extent to which the threat of cultism has recently increased across the country.

According to analysts, cultism has regrettably been pushed as charity and humanitarian organizations, making it tempting to young people who want to make contacts or meet their benefactors.

According to reports, famous Nigerians, including politicians and celebrities, have been tied to violent cult disputes that have resulted in hundreds of unexplained killings. So yet, no one has been charged or arrested.

Artisans are not excluded from the trend. In fact, they appear to be the only perpetrators of the majority of the violence.

Even street urchins have taken over cult organizations that were formerly regarded to be the domain of university students.

In 2020, a 32-year-old tailor named Kabiru Ahmed, who was characterized as calm and sympathetic, was apprehended by the Lagos State Police Command's Anti-Cultism Unit and admitted to murdering four members of a rival cult organization.

Ahmed worked as a hitman for the notorious Black axe (Aiye) confraternity. The cultist said that the assassination of his 'Babalawo' triggered a killing frenzy for both the Black axe and its competitor, the Eiye confraternity.

While one wonders about the participation of security forces in the midst of all the bloodshed, the police have attempted to exonerate themselves by arresting and arraigning suspected cultists for murder, robbery, rape, and other unlawful crimes.

However, analysts argue that this does not address the core cause of the problem.

DAILY POST investigations found that the majority of cult organizations have social media handles where their activities are advertised.

According to Nnamdi Anekwe Chife, a security expert who talked exclusively to DAILY POST, the effect of celebrities or politicians glamorizing cultism among young people has far-reaching consequences.

Chife stated that it was extremely harmful for Nigerian culture to condone the criminal aspect of cultism.

"There are two sides to the discussion," he explained. On the one hand, people argue cults are charitable organizations, but on the other hand, they are criminal organizations in the sense that they engage in illegal activity. If the criminal side of cultism is glorified, it will undoubtedly have an influence on the youth.

"On the security side, there are claims that elements in the security agencies are also participating in cult activities, but there is no proof to nail them," the security expert added.

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"Political classes who collaborate with them to glorify cultism may also be nailed," he stated.

However, Comrade Amitolu Shittu, Field Commander of Amotekun in Osun State, stated that only a bad society and a nation without a competent leader will fold their arms and allow cultism to flourish.

"Cultism is an unlawful organization that should not be tolerated, and we must confront them with force," he says. Cultists are mostly in favor of ritual killing, which should not be tolerated in modern society. The organization is unlawful, and we can't be proud of it because it's sinful, and God frowns on it because "he who murders with swords shall likewise be killed with swords."

According to Amitolu, cultism and other social vices are synonymous. "We are doing our best day and night, and we have arrested and imprisoned several of them." They are the ones that commit robbery, abduction, and ritual killing, hence they are not accepted in our culture.

Amotekun, he claimed, has succeeded in lowering "their unlawful character and the slaughter of innocent people to the bare minimum, and we are not taking it kindly with them." Democracy should not be permitted to kill democracy, thus the democracy that we practice is one that promotes the rule of law, and nobody has the right to kill another human being, and whoever does so should face the law," he added.