A 16-year-old Babajide Akiola was among those arrested for various crimes ranging from robbery, rape, impersonation and cultism. The boy, who belonged to a cult group operating in the Satellite Town in Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos, revealed how Nigerian youths get involved in cult activities.
The underaged boy, during an interaction with newsmen, said he
belonged to a cult group that has been terrorising Satellite Town in
Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos.
The boy, a secondary school certificate holder, talked to the press
as the Lagos State Police Command paraded the suspects at its
headquarters in Ikeja.
According to him, children as young as ten, primary and secondary
school students, as well as artisans, were recruited by the various
major confraternity groups, such as Arrow Baga popularly known as Arrow,
and were usually used as spies on other rivaling groups.
Babajide says he joined the Eiye confraternity group in 2013. He says
his father, an okada rider, could do little to protect him against the
cultists.
When Babajide finished secondary school, his father suggested he
started working as an apprentice under a vulcanizer. On the day of the
initiation, the boy was beaten by cultists who poured alcohol in his
eyes.
When Babajide’s boss got to know about his involvement with the cultists, he dismissed him.
Some time ago, the boy and his two siblings lost their father, and
their estranged mother, who abandoned them, refused to take them in.
Their grandmother offered him a job at her farm, but Babajide declined
“because of the hardship”.
When he came back to Lagos, he stayed with his friend who was a member of the cult.
“Most robbery cases in Satellite Town and its environs were carried out by cultists,” Babajide said.
“I only participated in the morning raids where those leaving for
their respective business places are attacked and dispossessed of their
cash, phones and other valuables. At the end of each operation, I
usually got between N1, 500 and N3,000.”
Due to his low rank, Babajide never got to use a gun.
“To graduate from the position of ‘Tender’ to ‘Flyer’ or ‘Adaba’, it
requires human blood. Anyone that can kill three persons at a go during
fight with rival cult groups automatically becomes a ‘Flyer ‘ or an
‘Adaba’. But I don’t have the mind to kill.
“The day I was tempted to ask what else can be done to graduate to
the next level was when I saw a 10 year-old boy who was already an
‘Adaba’. He came to where I was standing with other members and cleared
me off from the ground simply because I did not pay him homage,”
Babajide said.
“He ordered me to lie flat and used my back as a leg rest. That was to show me that he was senior to me in rank.
“Areas prone to cult activities are Tambolo village, Ibasa, across
the river, Bale, Ijegun, Egba, waterside, Fire Service around
barracks,among other places,” the boy said.
He, along with other cult members, was arrested on December 28.
“I regret joining a confraternity group. In fact, I feel like dying
because I am not prepared to go to jail. If I am freed, I will return to
my grand-mother in the village and join my siblings in farming,” the
boy said.
Other arrested cult members were Samuel Madeko, 19, Bright Oriaku, 19, Ibrahim Oguntoyinbo, 18.
Fatai Owoseni, the police commissioner, said the suspects would be charged to court.
