Last week, the Kwara Assembly State House of Assembly directed its Committees on Ethics, Privileges, Judiciary and that of Education to summon the Rector of the state polytechnic and officials of the Ministry of Education over cult activities in the state. The directive, which followed a motion by Kamal Fagbemi, representing Oke- Ogun constituency, was given few days after cult activities in the institution was said to have led to the death of many students. The development also led to shutdown of the polytechnic.
The Kwara State chapter of All Progressives Congress, (APC) condemned the clash. In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, the party described the incident as unfortunate, condemnable and unacceptable. “Kwara APC hereby registers its condemnation, without any equivocation, of the reported clash of suspected cult groups in Ilorin. This incident is condemnable, unfortunate and unacceptable to the peace-loving people of Kwara State,” it said. Shortly after that, police in the state confirmed the arrest of 30 people in connection with cult clashes. The arrest was part of series of others which have been made in the past few months over cult clashes in the state. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ajayi Okasanmi, during an interview confirmed the arrest of the suspects, adding that 14 people among them were found culpable after screening. He added that investigation into the matter was on-going. Cult activities in Ilorin and some parts of the country have taken a dangerous dimension, with clashes recorded almost on a daily basis.
These clashes are not restricted to campuses as other residents often times get caught up in the cross-fire. Recently, police in Benue State pledged to clamp down on cultists. They said the decision was in an effort to ensure that residents can move about freely without molestation. Reports from Benue indicated that people were being killed almost on daily basis by suspected cultists. About a fortnight ago, a group of young men numbering six attacked their victim, shot him in the face and left him in a pool of his blood. The resurgence of cult activities in institutions of higher learning is very worrisome, because the trend is taking the country back to the 90s where cult activities were very common. More worrisome is the fact that unlike in the past when cult membership was restricted to students in institutions of higher learning, it has found its way into the primary and secondary schools.
Sometime ago, 18 teenagers of two separate secondary schools were arrested for cultism in Ogun State. Officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, said the students were arrested in their schools. The Public Relations Officer of the Corps, Kareem Olanrewaju, who disclosed the development to journalists in Abeokuta, said the students were arrested during an initiation ceremony. “The students were arrested at the school premises while they were initiating new members into cultism by making incision on their bodies,” he said. He then added that the students will not be charged to court because they are of non-prosecutable age. This trend portends danger for the country and must be tackled before it gets out of hand.
Authorities at institutions of higher learning must wake up to their responsibilities. Proper profiling of applicants must be done before they are admitted into institutions and after they get in, the authorities should ensure that they are productively occupied. Apart from the normal educational activities, extra-curricular activities should be re-introduced to keep the students busy. The Department of Guidance and Counselling should be revived in institutions that no longer have it and where it exist, it should be made functional, so that students who feel left out would have people to talk to. Security operatives on campuses also have a duty to perform here; as they are closer to the students and are more conversant with school environments than the police and other operatives who are not on the campus. They must be able to figure out where such meetings are held and ensure that they are blocked. They should also have profiles of students so as to monitor suspects and stop them before they recruit new members. Parents also have a huge role to play in this area, especially with the younger kids in primary and secondary schools. Through proper monitoring of the child, parents would able to tell when he/ she is deviating. Most kids innocently join these groups to seek attention and have a sense of belonging. Parents should not for any reason neglect their kids and must take their duties seriously so that this problem can be tackled. In the past, there have been reports on arrest of suspected suspects but nobody gets to know if they were eventually found guilty and what punishment was meted out to them. Anyone caught should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
