01.08.2008 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Information on the Odo cult (and its activities in Ngwo village, Local Government Area Udi, Enugu State); are young adults initiated into this secret society against their own will? ("a-6232 (ACC-NGA-6232)") [ID 24743]

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Rivers State: Criminal gangs (called "cults") were widely believed to be sponsored by politicians to intimidate opponents and aid election rigging ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23162]

"Criminal gangs in areas such as Port Harcourt, Rivers State, were widely believed to be sponsored by politicians to intimidate opponents and aid election rigging. Some of these gangs (called "cults" locally) had amassed significant wealth and power. Violent power struggles between gangs resulted in hundreds of deaths, including of civilian bystanders, and reportedly damaged personal property and homes."

Document(s): Open document

05.12.2007 - Source: ReliefWeb

Definition of terms "ethnic militias", "confraternities and cults", "vigilante groups" and "criminal gangs"; distinction between terms ("Small arms, armed violence, and insecurity in Nigeria: The Niger Delta in perspective"), Autor: Small Arms Survey [ID 21908]

"Given the diversity of the armed groups, it is difficult to generate a simple typology (see Table 5.1). Such groups are often characterized by observers as (ethnic) militias,66 confraternities or cults, vigilante groups,67 or (criminal) gangs, but these terms have often been used interchangeably, creating confusion as to the distinctions among the various categories. Some groups fall into more than one type, further blurring the distinctions. The definitions below provide a starting point for delineating the differences among the armed group classifications. Regardless of their motivations or activities, many members of armed groups preferred to be called ‘freedom fighters’ as opposed to any other label, suggesting a strong belief in the reasons why they fight (AAPW, 2006).68 Ethnic militias are defined as youth groups formed to promote and protect the interests of a specific ethnic group, and therefore operate across the territory of that ethnic group (Adejumobi, 2003). They are not rebel movements, and are not seeking to capture territory or political power; instead, they serve as a pressure group on government. Confraternities and cults are similar in their origins, but differ in their areas of operation. These are small groups that originate in tertiary academic institutions. Their origins are in fraternities, initially comprising groups of men with similar interests, but they have since developed over the past few decades into armed groups that are often involved in criminal activities. Confraternities operate on campus, while their affiliated cults operate in off-campus locations. Their activities tend to be localized in proximity to the tertiary institution. Vigilante groups are community groups created to fill a security gap and provide protection from violent crime and armed robbery to a specific community (AI, 2002, p. 6). They consist of community members and are extremely localized in their area of operation. Criminal gangs tend to be groups of unemployed, poor, and illiterate youths who engage in small-scale crime and offer their services for hire to politicians and others (ICG, 2007a, p. 11). These gangs go by various local names, such as ‘area boys’ in Lagos or yandaba in the north. They are small groups with little organization, locally formed, and operating in small areas."

Document(s): Open document

05.12.2007 - Source: ReliefWeb

Typology of armed groups in Nigeria ("Small arms, armed violence, and insecurity in Nigeria: The Niger Delta in perspective"), Autor: Small Arms Survey [ID 21909]

"Ethnic Militias

• Purpose: Aims are to redress grievances and injustices and protect and defend the rights of the ethnic group
• Membership: Ethnic group; other sympathetic ethnic groups
• Support base: Typically grassroots organizations receiving widespread support; able to mobilize more widely
• Area of operations: Communities of ethnic group; also across states where ethnic group is dominant
• Main activities: Defence of ethnic group rights might include: political protest, attacks on politicians, attacks on oil pipelines, kidnapping, oil bunkering
• Arms: Paramilitary groups; of all armed groups, best trained, armed, organized; usually armed with sophisticated weapons
• Examples: NDPVF MEND Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC)

• Purpose: Self-enrichment and defending territory
• Membership: Confraternities: students Cults: unemployed youth
• Support base: Members; alliances with other armed groups; politicians
• Area of operations: Confraternities tend to be on campus, similar to US fraternities; cults operate off campus, tend to be the more violent of the two; localized area of operations
• Main activities: Control and defend territory; drug trafficking; oil bunkering; reputation for being brutal and secretive, with elaborate rituals for initiation
• Arms: Not all are violent, but most are armed; prospective members must demonstrate bravery and ability to use weapons
• Examples: NDVS/Icelander Deebam Deewell Greenlander Outlaws

• Purpose: Provide security to communities; provide law and order services in areas where police presence is minimal; provide economic opportunities to members
• Membership: Community organization
• Support base: Community support; community funding through dues; many receive government support
• Area of operations: Localized area of operations, usually at community level
• Main activities: Activities aimed at community security; sometimes administer physical punishments to suspects, or take the law into their own hands; some groups work with police to enforce law and order
• Arms: Not all are armed
• Examples: Bakassi Boys Anambra State Vigilante Service O’odua People’s Congress (OPC)

• Purpose: Economic gain
• Membership: Unemployed youth
• Support base: Members; politicians
• Area of operations: Dominate particular neighbourhoods; localized area of operations
• Main activities: Engage in armed robbery and other criminal activities
• Arms: Not all are armed
• Examples: Area boys Yandaba groups

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Enugu State: 5 persons killed for ritual purposes ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19877]

"In November there were reports that at least five persons in Enugu State were mutilated and killed for ritual purposes by perpetrators who worked for local politicians."

Document(s): Open document

10.01.2007 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Information on secret society named Asigidi (Asegidi) ("a-5265 (ACC-NGR-5265)") [ID 18675]

Document(s): Open document

08.2006 - Source: Norwegian Country of Origin Information Center

“juju", traditional religions and traditions ("Report on Fact-finding trip to Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos and Benin City) 12-26 March 2006") [ID 18798]

"Asylum applications presented by Nigerians regularly contain claims that the applicant fears persecution from persons or groups threatening to use occult powers, or juju. This is the common term in Nigerian English for all religious practices with some sort of basis in traditional African animist religion. Such practices are common among the substantial minority of Nigerians who are neither Christians nor Muslims, but they also influence the religious life and outlook of many Christian and Muslim Nigerians, whose religious practice must be categorised as syncretistic. Even more importantly, many Christian and Muslim Nigerians who themselves will not get involved in rites and rituals associated with traditional religion, may still regard occult forces as very real influences to be reckoned with in their lives.19 Thus the fear of being a victim of other people’s (attempted) manipulation of supernatural forces is very widespread. As Pastor Dayo Olutayo put it, «many are suspicious that people are after them, and think they don’t succeed because of other people’s evil intentions». Pastor Olutayo also stressed that it is not unusual that people blame other people’s use of witchcraft as an excuse for not dealing with their own problems.[...] Grace Osakue, founder of the NGO Girls Power Initiative (GPI), pointed out that the dynamics of juju is constantly changing, and that in Edo state an internationalisation is taking place within this sector, normally perceived as “traditional”: «These shrines now have branches internationally, and members in other countries in the world. It’s a booming business, and the picture we have of a native doctor is changing.»"

Document(s): Open document

08.2006 - Source: Norwegian Country of Origin Information Center

Organisations ranging from Ogboni secret society via ethnically based vigilante groups to university fraternities are all referred to as cults in the media ("Report on Fact-finding trip to Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos and Benin City) 12-26 March 2006") [ID 18799]

"The term cult is very freely used in Nigeria, and may refer to any organised group of people where there is some sort of secrecy around the group members’ reasons to organise and/or modes of operations. The term also implies a religious dimension, generally linked to practice of juju. Organisations ranging from the famous Ogboni secret society via ethnically based vigilante groups to university fraternities are all referred to as cults in Nigerian media. According to Bukhari Bello (NHRC), cults and secret organisations are common in the south of Nigeria, but considerably less so in the north. Tony Ojukwu (NHRC) stated that secret brotherhoods operate all the way up to elite levels of society, this view was supported by another Nigerian source. Here it must be stressed that it is widely believed in Nigeria (like elsewhere in the region) that people in power form secret networks where conspiracies and abuse of occult powers are a matter of routine: In contemporary postcolonial West Africa, where the everyday suffering of the vast majority stands in stark contrast to the fantastic accumulation of the small elite, the tropes of sorcery, witchcraft and supernatural evil have provided a powerful way to express the inequalities of wealth. Representations of magic and the supernatural are not escapist fantasies but are believed by audiences to be part of the everyday world in which they live and rumors are rampant that behind material wealth lies magical production. (Larkin 2001) Such beliefs also form the basis for a large number of locally produced films (socalled Nollywood-films), that reach huge audiences in Nigeria, the neighbouring countries and the West African diaspora in Europe and elsewhere."

Document(s): Open document

07.02.2005 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the Ovia cult; its membership, doctrine, rituals, ceremonies and initiation, consequences for refusing to join, and consequences for breaching the oath of secrecy ("The Ovia cult; its membership, doctrine, rituals, ceremonies and initation, consequences for refusing to join, and consequences for breaching the oath of secrecy [NGA43240.E]") [ID 24516]

Document(s): Open document

22.07.2004 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on recent (2003-2004) cult activities and violence at the University of Benin (UNIBEN/Uniben); the response of authorities to combat university cultism at Uniben; targets of the cults; how members are recruited; information on the Black Axe cult ("Recent (2003-2004) cult activities and violence at the University of Benin (UNIBEN/Uniben); the response of authorities to combat university cultism at Uniben; targets of the cults; how members are recruited; information on the Black Axe cult [NGA42863.E]") [ID 24520]

Document(s): Open document

03.06.2004 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the Warri Youth Movement (WYM) ("The Warri Youth Movement (WYM) in Delta State, Nigeria, including activities, location, membership cards and treatment by government authorities [NGA42698.E]") [ID 24522]

Document(s): Open document

20.05.2003 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on a cult known as Ekpe na Mboko ("A cult known as Ekpe na Mboko [NGA41467.E]") [ID 24742]

Document(s): Open document