From: Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
No fewer than 248 have signified their intentions to renounce their membership of various campus cultists’ groups tertiary institutions in Oyo State.
The disclosure was made, on Thursday, by the National Coordinator, Campus Cult Eradication Foundation (CCEF), Mr. Samuel Ejembi, at a stakeholders’ meeting with Chief Security Officers (CSOs) and Deans of Students Affairs of all the tertiary institutions in the state, held at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.
CCEF is a non-governmental organisation, working in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General of Police to curb the menace of cultism in tertiary institutions in the country.
Ejembi noted that a total of 115 among the 248 persons that want to renounce campus cultism are not students, while the remaining 133 comprises both male and female students.
He disclosed that CCEF had earlier took the anti-cultism campaign to 13 states of the federation before coming to Oyo State, adding that approximately 14,000 students and non-students have renounced their membership of cultists’ groups with the support of the Inspector General of Police. The renunciation, he said, would hold within the next 10 days.
According to Ejembi, who noted that he was a cultist for 13 years and that non-student cultists “are usually used as accomplices for robbery, kidnapping, drug dealing, thuggery and other vices. Cultism is a deadly menace that destroys the lives of innocent Nigerians, either directly or indirectly, rendering them hopeless. It is a threat to any security in a state.
“Our tertiary institutions have become recruitment ground and barracks for different cult to run their activities. Hundreds die every year as a result of cult related clashes. Hundreds are initiated into cultism every year. So, many are not truly aware of the evil associated with cultism before getting initiated.
“I will advise leaders of all tertiary institutions in Oyo State to try and assist the police in creating awareness about cultism.”
Ejembi noted that the heartbeat of any nation is the youth because they are the leaders for tomorrow. He warned that if these future leaders all become involved in cultism or “are trained in an environment that are highly influenced by cult activities, then what does the future hold for the state?”
He stated that the CCEF and the Nigeria Police have been and would continue rehabilitate cultists that have renounced or that want to renounce their membership of the groups they belong.