RESURGENCE OF VIOLENT CULTISM
Security agencies could do more to contain the menace
Worried by the resurgence of cult-related killings in Asaba, Delta State capital, many natives of the town, dressed in red attires, last week embarked on a week-long spiritual cleansing exercise involving traditional rites, curses and oath-taking. That exercise was a measure of the worsening cult-related clashes that have led to the gruesome killing of six persons in the past two weeks. But Asaba is not alone in this new wave of madness. The rate at which young men butcher one another and innocent people in the name of cultism is increasingly troubling.
Across the country today, so prevalent is the menace that in many states, cultists of various stripes act with impunity, killing, raping, and maiming victims while causing widespread destruction. Between 2020 and March 2025, for instance, about 1,686 people were killed in 909 incidents of gang violence across the country. According to a report by the SBM Intelligence last week, the South-South and South-West regions emerged the worst culprits. Rivers State led the fatality list with 215 deaths, followed by Lagos, 197; and Edo, 192 deaths.
Overall, the South-South recorded some 750 deaths involving several groups. In the Southwest, over 491 fatalities were recorded mainly in Lagos and Ogun, due to recurrent clashes between the Aiye and Eiye confraternities. The Southeast region, notably Anambra State, also witnessed significant violence, with over 215 deaths, while the North-Central chalked over 204 deaths, particularly in Benue with cult groups such as Scavengers and Chain operating amid the ongoing communal clashes. In contrast, however, the Northeast and Northwest experienced minimal gang-related activity, recording less than 30 fatalities, attributed largely to the dominance of larger-scale terror groups like Boko Haram and bandits.
The surge in cult violence and related crimes is mainly a response to the widespread poverty and unemployment amid the current dire economic environment. But it is also symptomatic of a breakdown of law and order. The so-called cultists operate freely on our streets and higher institutions of learning where they have splintered from the original confraternity into Black Axe, Eiye, Aye, the Vikings, Buccaneers, Mafia, and more. Usually armed with cudgels, machetes, axes, and other dangerous tools, they operate in places of worship as well as bars and nightclubs. Indeed, most of these public spaces have become hideouts for these criminal elements who disrupt the social order and unleash terror on members of the public after becoming high on drugs and alcohol.
As we have reiterated in previous interventions, cultism is not new in Nigeria. Either for personal/family protection or for the promotion and safeguard of certain interests, many people in the past have identified with one form of cultism or another. But today, cultism has become almost like a status symbol, especially on our campuses while members kill sometimes for reasons as flimsy as being snubbed by a student of the opposite sex. The concern is that these cult wars and gang violence have exacerbated the climate of lawlessness and fear in the polity.
These frequent clashes have their roots in a fierce struggle for supremacy and contest for control of sphere of influence. Powerful elements in the society are known to be fuelling this malady, using the cult boys as political thugs to settle scores against their opponents. These influential public figures are the unseen faces that provide the funds used to acquire arms and support the egregious lifestyle of this band of social misfits. It is therefore no surprise that cult activities are often heightened days before general elections with many young Nigerians increasingly having their lives brutally terminated.
To end this regime of violence and impunity on our streets, we call for the arrest and diligent prosecution of these miscreants and their backers.
