Cult activities in Nigerian universities
and small arms violence
by Agyeno Ehase

 
Introduction

IPPNW’s vision through its “Aiming for Prevention” campaign to, ‘unravel the causes of firearm violence, thus enabling the formation of appropriate interventions at the weakest links in the chain’ is indeed a noble one. It is that vision that inspired my writing this article.

A cult, according to the Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary is, ‘a small group of people with extreme religious beliefs and who are not parts of any established religion’. It is a group whose activities are shrouded in secrecy and which could use unconventional and unacceptable means in dispensing its activities, which are mostly esoteric and individualistic. These cults now abound in Nigerian Universities and there seems to be no signs of their ever stopping.

Background

The beginning of cult activities in Nigerian Universities dates back to the year 1953. Then in the University of Ibadan, when the Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka and a few of his friends called ‘The G7’ decided to set up a social club, which they christened the Pyrates Confraternity i. Their aim was to abolish convention – behaviour as it was during the colonial period (by fighting non-violently, but intellectually and effectively against the impositions of foreign convention), and promote the spirit of chivalry (by finding a lasting solution to the spirit of tribalism and elitism) ii. Indeed, history has it that the Pyrates Confraternity had some of the brightest, cleanest, and most politically conscious among the students iii. But soon what started as a social club turned into a dangerous cult involved in the massacre of students. Just how the cult spread to the other universities in the country or how, according to a Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) report, 33 cult groups iv sprang up from the ‘social clubs' remains a mystery to many.

That these groups have become tools for power, revenge and status is not new to anybody. How their number increased and how they resorted to violence is what many people have sought explanation for. The following reasons have been put forward as to why there are many cult groups:

Within the university, there were new splintered groups that sprang up and considered the doctrines of the Pyrates Confraternity as elitist and useless v. Consequently, their modus operandi was made to be, consciously or otherwise, contrary to the Pyrates’.

Again, the advent of brain drain, which gained momentum at about the same period, is attributed as a factor as it negatively affected the intellectual participation and maturity of students in Nigerian Universities.

The increasing decay of Nigerian Universities due to under funding (which continues till date), caused overcrowding, high student-staff ratio vi and a decline in recreational activities that could harness youthful energies; thus creating an attitude of territoriality and violence among students. This factor’s persistence is attributed by many to be a consequence of bad governance (but that is not the issue here).

Parallel events outside the university affecting the nation as a whole involved the military regime and its attendant coups, which heralded and promoted the mentality of violence as the ideal.

All these have culminated into a culture of violence and non-dialogue as means of conflict resolution, fuelling inter-cult group rivalry and clashes that are daily reported in various institutions among rival cults. The final event in the metamorphosing of cults probably came to be as ideologies bordering on psychological, economic, egotistical and even ludicrous reasons. Thus, it is not uncommon to hear that one joined a cult because it psyched him into feeling macho, or because it seemed a viable means of economic upliftment (how? I do not know), or for the reason of proving a point to a rival male (or female) who snatched his girlfriend (or boyfriend), or even because joining one for some reason seemed synonymous to being in a university. It becomes clear from all these reasons that the trigger into joining one starts from the mind; as such, the physical move of identifying with one that seemed compatible is just an inevitable end to an inner inclination. More disturbing is the observation that cult clashes, when they occur transcend the plain of physical bodily clashes, involving the use of small weapons and firearms, especially pistols and rifles.

The gravity of the problem

The following live examples would serve to illustrate this fact:

The horrifying activities of cultism in the universities pricked the conscience of the nation when on July 10, 1999 five students were killed in a most bizarre massacre. According to reports then, on or at about 4.00 am, over 30 members of the Black Axe Secret Cult invaded the Awo Hall of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, where they shot and killed five students including the Secretary-General of the Students’ Union Government, George Yemi Iwilade⁴.

Two undergraduates of the University of Jos were shot dead early Sunday morning by gunmen suspected to be cult members. One, a suspected member of the Viking campus secret society, was said to have sustained gunshot wounds on the forehead and chest and died on the way to the hospital. His roommate also sustained gunshot injuries and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the Plateau State Capital. The other victim died in the early hours of Monday. The rival cult groups fought over some girls. vii

Death toll in the bloody clash that occurred at the University of Ibadan at the weekend between rival cult groups increased to as high as six as tension continued to mount on the university campus. According to sources, the victims were gunned down and matcheted to death by suspected cultists during sporadic gunshot exchange between members of Eye Confraternity and Axe secret cult groups. viii

These assaults are sporadic and sometimes there are long periods of respite before subsequent episodes occur. However, with each episode, individuals are killed or maimed, sometimes including non-cultists unfortunate to be caught in the crossfire. Although detailed statistics are not available as to the number of casualties in each case, it is believed that tens of lives are lost with each episode, more so because a clash in one institution could trigger “solidarity” clashes in different other institutions in Nigeria. A newspaper report says about 115 lives have been claimed by cult-related killings between June 1993 and 2003, ix an average of 11.5 lives per year over the period.

In a study conducted in 2001 in the middle belt universities in Nigeria by S O Smah, 47.73% (412.39) of 864 respondents responded that “Knives, machetes, cutlasses and daggers constitute the main weapons used in cult violence. 22.85% (197.42) of respondents said guns and live ammunition were the main weapons used.⁶ In any case recent incidents and reports have all pointed to the increasing use of guns and ammunition as weapons by cultists.

How they get these weapons is not completely understood. Reports however, show that Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) to the tone of 100 million (40million of which is mines) are in circulation in Africa.x With illegal sellers representing a high source of SALWs, a high number of affluent cult members and associates and reported involvement of some staff of universities in cult activities, acquiring weapons is not a problem.

The way forward

Having looked at all these, what could be the way forward? Different strategies have been used in different places and under different circumstances to combat firearms. These strategies are classified by experts as “supply-side” and “demand-side” strategies, which mean cutting supply from the origin, and discouraging use by the consumers respectively. Supply-side strategies such as buyback and amnesty schemes have been tried in countries such as the UK and Australia. xi This involved buying back by the state the weapons in possession of citizens irrespective of the means by which these were acquired. In the two countries mentioned, law enforcement officials reported that the strategy had a positive impact in reducing the damage caused by these weapons. (The report however was not about cult related damage.)

However, considering the issue at hand, the demand side strategy is likely to prove more beneficial. Some concerned citizens are of the opinion that drastic measures be taken against cult activities and its perpetrators. Suggestions include imprisonment of culprits (as supported by the House of Representatives Bill, Secret Cult and Secret Society Prohibition Bill, 2001, which stipulates a jail term of five years or a fine of 250,000 Naira or both); closure of affected universities for two years (I think not because we would soon go without any university), rustication of culprits, etc. In view of the failure of some of these suggestions, but without disdain, a tactful, more deliberate measure should be resorted to, which ignores, so to say, those already in the murky waters, and also the supply-side and focuses more on the people that form the demand-side. This would entail the following:

As mentioned earlier, those already in cults should be ‘ignored’ except if they try to constitute a stubborn nuisance where applicable laws could be applied. Mass orientation campaigns should be put in place for new students against joining cult activities, as "students who become involved with cults undergo personality changes, suffer academically and financially, are alienated from their families and friends, and are robbed of the very things universities were designed to encourage". xii Stickers, t-shirts, banners, and pamphlets should be used as avenues for sensitization and discouragement of new students against cult activities (after all the decision starts on the inside). These should effectively stress the negative aspects of joining a cult.

Such a campaign should go on intensively for a specific period, say 8-10 years, by which time it is expected that most if not all the old members, have graduated (or have been expelled) and generations of new students have a culture of non-violence.

As a substratum for all these, the government should work to improve the infrastructure and faculty in universities.

The result of this would be a peaceful, cult-free university system with a consequent decrease in firearms related mortality and morbidity in schools and the nation as a whole, sparing the leaders of tomorrow.

The author, Agyeno Ehase is a member of IPPNW
and the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria

i Adewale Rotimi

                Violence in the Citadel: The Menace of Secret Cults in the Nigerian Universities, Nordic Journal of African Studies 14 (1): 79 – 98 (2005)

ii Adewale Rotimi

                in Orintusin (1990)

iii Adewale Rotimi

                in Thomas (2002)

iv Ujudud  Shariff

                Combating the Menace of Cultism

                < Allafric.com/stories/200208060544.htm> [Accessed 17 Jan. 2006]

v Adewale Rotimi

                in Owoeye (1997)

vi Sam O Smah

Perception and Control of Secret Cult and Gang-induced Difficulties for Quality Living and Learning in Nigerian Universities: The Case study of Universities in the Middle Belt Zone, Centre for Development Studies, University of Jos, Nigeria

vii This Day (Nigeria)

                Two Killed in University Cult Clash

                <http://allafrica.com/stories/200210160277.html>

                <http://www.religionnewsblog.com/951> [Accessed 17 Jan. 2006]

viii Sina Babasola

                Death Toll now 6 in Ibadan Varsity Cults Clash, Vanguard Nigeria (23 Jun. 2004)

                <http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7631>[Accessed 17 Jan. 2006]

ix Omon-Julius Onabu

                Campus Cult Violence Claims 115 Lives, This Day Nigeria (4 Sep. 2003)

                <http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4263>[Accessed 17 Jan. 2006)

x Ime A John

The Impact of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons on Health in Africa, A workshop  presented at the IPPNW African Regional Students Conference, Jos, Nigeria, 16-18 Dec. 2005

xi Neil Arya

Confronting the small arms pandemic: Unrestricted access should be viewed as a public health disaster, BMJ 2002;324:990-1

xii Jeffrrey K Hadden

Cult Wars in Maryland: An Introduction to the Task Force to Study the Effects of Cult Activities on Public Senior Higher Education Institutions