Media sources in Nigeria report regularly on cult activities and the response by society and government authorities to those activities. A brief chronology, beginning in February 1999, highlights those activities and responses. Please note that most media reports do not identify specific cults in their reports, but when they do the cult name is included in the following summary.

The following excerpt from an 18 June 1999 Post Express editorial provides a short overview on the subject of cults:

Apart from the mayhem rival cult members unleash on themselves, innocent people including students, lecturers and other members of the university communities had at one time or the other fallen victim to the cultists. Many have been killed, and others maimed for life. The cult groups operate with dangerous weapons like guns, machets, axes, acids et cetera, and carry out their nefarious activities even in broad daylight. In virtually all our universities, the story is the same. People are no longer safe. An atmosphere of insecurity of life and properties pervades the air.

Ironically, the present day cult members in our school operate with the sole intention to oppress, kill and cause havocs. They have deviated entirely from the aims and objectives of the founding fathers of campus cults. Traditionally, there was just one known secret society in Nigerian institution of higher learning - the pirate confraternity. This society was formed in 1952 at the University of Ibadan by Professor Wole Soyinka and a few others. The objective then was to put pressure on the colonialists, shake off colonial mentality, assert the identity of true independence and to instill university culture into members. It was never intended to maim, kill, suppress and oppress fellow students. But because of internal crisis, some members of the pirate broke away to form alternative secret societies.

Today, in addition to the pirate confraternity, the following secret cults exist in Nigerian higher institutions: Buccaneers, Maplates, Blood Suckers, Black Cat, Eiye Confraternity, Vikings Confraternity, Mafia, Red Devils, Black Barret, Green Barret, Trojan House, Neo Black Movement, Musketeerns, Black Axe, Temple of Eden, Fraternity, Mafiaso, Osiri, Burkinafaso Revolution, Mgbamagbu Brother, Scorpion, Dragon, Panama Pirate Confraternity, Airwords, Kuklux (KKK), Amazon, Barracudas, etc.

As a matter of fact, cult activities are not restricted to schools alone. They extend to the large society outside the schools, and many older generation of influential people are known to be members of these societies. Some of the historical secret cults in the society include the Ogboni among the Yorubas, Ekpe among the Efiks, Poro among the Mende and Ekine cult of eastern Delta, among others.

Most of these cults render supports to a majority of the campus ones. The negative activities of the secret cults in our schools seem to have defiled all known solutions, in spite of the collective efforts of governments at different levels, school authorities, churches and parents in curbing the menace. The reason being that the financiers, supporters and the godfathers of majority of the campus cults are some of the influential members of our society who are also cult members.

Therefore, for the war on secret cults eradication in our schools to be successful, all hands must be on deck. In the first place, the government should come out with adequate legal and social sanctions against any confirmed member as well as financiers or supporters of secret cults, whether on the campuses or in the larger society. School authorities should also be given full backing to rusticate any student or lecturer found to be a cult member. Equally, parents and guardians should rise up to the challenges, be duty bound to monitor from time to time, the behaviour of their children in schools, mostly in higher institutions. That a child is in a tertiary institution does not imply that he is beyond the control of its parents. A stitch in time saves nine.

A 22 February Post Express article states that a leadership training workshop by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Lagos, attributed much of the violence of cults to the institutionalization of violence during Nigeria's years of military rule and to

the non democratic nature of the administration of educational institutions. ... Particular attention was drawn to the imposition of Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts among others, who in turn set up, fund, arm and support in various ways, cult gangs specifically for subverting independent student unionism and to thwart agitation by students for improvement in their welfare as students and citizens. ... They noted that "police activities have more often than not escalated violence and occasional wanton abuses of human rights, sometimes leading to death" (ibid.).

Post Express reported on 17 March 1999 that two persons were killed and one injured after a clash between two cult groups (Black Axe and Aiye Confraternity) at Lagos State University. They "were reported to have stormed the university auditorium ... to win over new members" (ibid.). According to a police spokesperson several persons were arrested. The university had been closed for a number of months in 1998 because of cult clashes and students had been arrested "while their parents and guardians had to sign an undertaking of good behaviour before they were released" (ibid.).

In April, the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) "condemned the alleged reluctance and refusal of the Akwa-Ibom State police command, Uyo, to investigate" an alleged cult attack on a student. The father of the student alleged his son was attacked for refusing to join the "Black Axe Confraternity" (Post Express 8 Apr. 1999).

Also in April, three students were reported to have been killed in a clash between cult groups (Buccaneers and Pyrate Confraternity) at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) (ibid. 15 Apr. 1999). The school's Chief Security Officer said that the incident had been reported to the police and that an investigation was underway, but that it would be difficult to identify the killers as people were reluctant to provide any information (ibid.). Post Express commented that "secret cult activities have remained a hydra-headed problem in UNICAL despite repeated efforts by authorities of the school to rid it of cultism" (ibid.).

In May a college provost was reported to have advised students to "shun" cultism and examination cheating and reminded them that both are "crimes under the Miscellaneous Offences Decree" (ibid. 14 May 1999).

Nigeria News Network reported on 10 May 1999 that students suspected of being cultists (group called Bukkah) had killed a middle-aged man. "Eye witnesses reveal that the group who arrived at the scene in batches at about 8 pm laid ambush in strategic locations before carrying out their operation that lasted for over two hours, continued to shoot into the air to scare neighbours and passers-by" (ibid.). A police spokesperson "confirmed the incident" and stated that an investigation would be conducted (ibid.).

In June, "The Director of Formal Education at the Federal Ministry of Education stated in a public speech that "the effort of the government to curb the menace of secret cults, examination malpractices and other vices should be seriously contemplated by all and sundry" (Post Express 16 June 1999).

Nigeria News Network reported on 16 June 1999 "strange deaths" at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), including the body of a female student washed ashore with body parts missing, and allegations that cultists, who were not UNILAG students, "were avenging the death of one of their colleagues." Reportedly, "the Akora campus of UNILAG is now virtually a police area as men of the Rapid Response Squad have been invited to restore normalcy and to forestall any similar occurrence" (ibid.).

Nigeria News Network reported on 28 June 1999 that representatives of the Alliance for Democracy had called for changes to tertiary institutions "to halt the menace of cultism." They also urged the National Assembly to institute "punitive measures" to check student cult activities, as well as the establishment "of a ministry that will handle matters relating to students behaviour on campuses." One of the representatives also referred to "the good steps taken by Obasanjo so far" (ibid.).

Post Express reported on 1 July 1999 that five students were killed, and others injured, in an attack by cultists at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife (OAU). Some of those killed were "student union activists" and the newspaper reported that other "students saw the situation as a pure case of assassination" and that "school authorities cannot be absolved of blame in the incidents" (ibid.). The killings "angered the students who immediately mobilised themselves into groups to deal with the security operatives of the institution, who they accused of negligence. But for the intervention of journalists, that could have been an ugly reprisal" (ibid.).

Nigeria News Network reported on 14 July 1999 that security at OAU had been strengthened through the deployment of about 200 mobile police. Offices were closed on the campus, the death toll was reported to be at eight, several suspects were reported to be held at the Students Union Building, the state governor "assured parents and guardians that government will do everything possible to safeguard lives and properties on the campus," and members of the state parliament wore black arm bands in sympathy and called for "stiff penalties" for those responsible (ibid.). The national president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) "vowed to declare a nationwide man-hunt to expose the culprits" and criticized the Vice-chancellor of the university for "re-instating cult members who were earlier in the year arrested and handed over to the university authority for punishment" (Post Express 15 July 1999).

President Obasanjo suspended the Vice-Chancellor on 15 July 1999 (Nigeria News Network 16 July 1999; Post Express 16 July 1999). Post Express reported that the suspension was "unconnected" to the violence but "was aimed at restoring public confidence" (ibid.), while Nigeria News Network reported that the Education Minister had said that the suspension was a "'sequel to recent events' in the institution" (16 July 1999). President Obasanjo also "directed that police patrol services be provided on all campuses in the country" (Post Express 16 July 1999). Subsequent to the attacks the university set up a Senate Committee to "liaise with the students' body and police to ensure that the perpetrators of the killings were arrested and punished" and to look into increasing campus security (Nigeria News Network 16 July 1999).

In a 21 July 1999 editorial on this attack, Tempo stated that "the cult-members are believed to have been hired from even outside the university to help disrupt the vibrant student-unionism that had found a home in that university." The editorial claimed that, in reaction, students had "organised themselves into vigilance groups to flush out those who participated in the murderous assault on the university as well as confront the cult practices head-on" and that students:

have no faith in the university authorities and cannot trust the police [because of] collusion between law enforcement agents and university authorities in the past. Worse, as the students insist, the university authorities and security forces have been particularly lenient towards, if not cosy, with cult members, while resorting to all sorts of stratagems to destroy student unionism (ibid.).

The editorial also says that exercises in suppressing student unions had occurred on other Nigerian campuses as well (ibid.).

In a related Post Express article, Wole Soyinka promised a "relief package to the families of the victims" at OAU (24 July 1999a). Speaking through the leader of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) Soyinka "called on the authorities to leave no stone unturned in bringing to justice the perpetrators of such heinous crime" (ibid.).

[NAS] also known as Pirate Confraternity, also disassociated itself from activities of "senseless and criminal gangs in the name of cultism." It rebuked the government for allegedly inculcating the culture of violence which Nigerian students and society has imbibed.

It said: "We have watched with dismay, over the years, the near lukewarm attitude of our various governments to deal with the phenomenon of violence in our higher institutions of learning, perhaps, because most of the perpetrators were children of the vagabonds that found themselves in positions of authority (ibid.).

The Minister of Education said that the federal government would set up a "probe panel" to look into the killings, and into allegations involving the suspended Vice-chancellor (Nigeria News Network 21 July 1999). At the end of July a "probe panel" was also created by authorities at OAU "to examine the remote and immediate causes of the killings [and] to recommend solutions to the menace and how to avoid a recurrence" (Nigeria News Network 28 July 1999a). The panel would consist of students, junior staff, and Senate members (ibid.). In further information:

As normal academic activities resumed in the institution Monday [July 26], Osun State Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, told the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Roger Makanjuola, of the necessity of both the university authorities and the state government working out the modalities for providing adequate security to flush out cultism on the campus. ...

Makanjuola, however, assured that the authorities would do everything possible to eradicate cultism in the institution.

However, students were seen in their classes Monday but majority of them appeared to still live in fear and suspicion of one another.

Those who spoke on the issue of the cults attack, however, expressed their confidence in the new Acting Vice-Chancellor that he would bring sanity back to the campus.

Some of them, however, urged Prof. Makanjuola to recall all the students union leaders who were expelled by the suspended Vice-Chancellor in 1995 (ibid.).

According to Nigeria News Network, "the federal government ... reminded the authorities of tertiary institutions of its directive that they check the menace of cults on their campuses or have its 'axe fall' on them" (28 July 1999b). Education Minister, Professor Tunde Adeniran promised financial assistance for those efforts (ibid.). In further information:

About three weeks after the killing of seven students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, the minister ordered vice-chancellors and pro-chancellors to, within three months, eradicate cultism from their campuses or be relieved of their offices.

Attributing the scourge to prolonged military rule in the country, Adeniran said the incidence could be obliterated through collective will of parents, students, teachers, law enforcement agencies and the public.

"Cultism has a long and sad history but because it was underrated, people who were supposed to fight it shied away from the problem, making it to persist," he remarked.

Adeniran noted that some institutions have wiped out cultists in their midsts, and urged those who cannot do likewise to quit (ibid.).

A report from the Abuja Mirror referred to Adeniran's "three months' ultimatum given to heads of tertiary institutions to wipe out secret cults" and that "the minister revealed that some institutions have wiped out cultists in their midst, adding that the government would render help to institutions which needed such help in order to eradicate the crime" (28 July - 3 Aug. 1999).

On 4 August 1999 Nigeria News Network reported that the education minister had refused to extend the deadline saying "the government had carried out its independent investigation and was sure that the menace could be eradicated within the stipulated time if the authorities of the institutions committed themselves to doing it." He declined to outline what forms of "reprisals" the government had planned.

On 30 July, the Vice-Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University was reported to have said that the university had responded to the education minister's call for universities to eradicate cults (Post Express 30 July 1999). Security had been re-organized on campus, "24-hour monitoring of the students movements had since begun," and a programme of counselling against involvement with cults had been initiated for students, while the university had also asked for additional funds from the federal government to enhance security work (ibid.).

In July Post Express had reported that 32 students suspected of being cult members at Federal Polytechnic, Auchi had been arrested in connection with fighting at the university. The Edo State Governor, before whom they were "paraded," reportedly "told them that they would not only be rusticated from the institution but be made to face prosecution" (6 July 1999.).

On 16 July 1999 Post Express reported the imposition of a curfew between 11 P.M. and 5:30 A.M. at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in order "to stem cult activities."

In late July The National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (NANTAP) released a statement criticizing university authorities for their inability to deal with the activities of cults on campus (ibid. 24 July 1999b).

At a panel discussion in late July panel members

suggested the reintroduction of police posts in tertiary institutions, provision of recreational facilities, re-examination of the admission process, reduction in the number of students admitted each year and election of vice-chancellors by the various universities.

The discussants observed that some top government functionaries and parents are members of secret cults ... hence the need to look beyond students for solution to the problem (Abuja Mirror 28 July - 3 Aug. 1999).

The panel also called for "the enforcement of both students' union law and that of the state which forbids people from joining secret societies. It regarded that though these laws empower vice-chancellors to prosecute offenders they have failed to do so" (ibid.).

On 31 July 1999 Post Express reported that the Senate Committee on Education was looking into cult activities and its chairperson had indicated that "there was an urgent need to legislate on all the rules and practices in the country's educational system that encourage the practice of cultism" (31 July 1999).

On 1 August 1999 21 students from Federal Polytechnic, Nassarawa were arrested on suspicion of involvement in cult activities and their arrest, according to the institution's rector, was the result of cooperation between police, the State Security Services, and school authorities (Post Express 1 Aug. 1999). The rector stated that in 1998 students had been arrested and interrogated and then released due to a lack of evidence (ibid.). The university's rector stated the school's internal security force had found the Black Axe and Black Barch cults among those active on campus (ibid.).

On 3 August 1999 Post Express referred to a "determined move" by authorities at two universities to apprehend student cultists. At the University of Ilorin (UNILORN) 19 persons were arrested, while 2 students were arrested at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) through cooperation with students and security officers from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Those students arrested at UNILORN were granted bail, while security was tightened alongside the implementation of a curfew (ibid.). In addition, "a student anti-cult organisation, called Secret Cult and Drug Abuse Elimination Action Team (SECDRAT), has said it had resolved to stamp-out cult activities in [University of Nigeria] UNN. ... the group was pursuing its goal through persuasion, pressure, and litigation" (ibid.).

At Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, 192 students and 27 lecturers appeared before a "panel on cultism" where they denied any membership in cults. Following these appearances, a further 120 students were asked to appear at the panel after being "implicated" by students in the first group (Post Express 8 Aug. 1999).

On 9 August 1999 Nigeria News Network reported that the Council of Heads of Polytechnics in Nigeria (COHEADS) had "called for the enactment of anti-cult laws by state and the national assemblies to immediately put an end to the menace" and promised to "do all in their power to fight the vice internally."

In an e-mail interview with Sunday Punch Dr. Olatunji Dare, a journalism teacher and former chairman of the editorial board of The Guardian, when asked what could be done "to stem the increasing trend of cult violence," responded:

I wish I had an answer to what is a uniquely Nigerian problem that has grown totally out of control. In his first semester at UNILAG, my son was threatened with cult violence. I took the matter to the authorities. Some of our friends and even colleagues thought that my action would, if anything, put him at greater risk. But I was not dissuaded.

The authorities were most co-operative. They hatched a plan to confront the campus terrorist at the point when he would be collecting from my son the ransom money he had demanded. As he showed up to collect, campus security closed in on him. He just managed to escape.

Investigations revealed that he was not even a bona fide student. He and his confederates knew that the game was up. Thereafter, they never harassed my son again.

The cult thing is far more serious than that, and far more dangerous. But it has to be resisted - by university authorities, by the vast majority of the students themselves, and by parents (15 Aug. 1999).

Following the renunciation by five UNICAL students of their membership in unnamed cults, the Post Express declared that "the war against cultism in the nation's tertiary institutions is beginning to pay off" (15 Aug. 1999). UNICAL's Vice-Chancellor

said that security agents are already working on information so far supplied them to track down cultists in the campus, adding that the war against cultism has been further intensified by directives from the minister of education and President Obasanjo to all Vice Chancellors of universities to stamp out secret cult activities within three months.

He gave staff of the institution who are cult members two weeks within which to renounce their membership or consider themselves dismissed adding that for now, any suspected staff is given 48 hours to defend himself or herself before the disciplinary committee and if the committee is not satisfied, such a staff is made to face a panel (ibid.).

However, the Vice-Chancellor would not identify the students concerned because of the possibility of revenge attacks by other cult members (ibid.). The Federal Government had provided the Vice-Chancellor with a list:

which identified 36 cults in institutions of learning in the country. They include Pyrate Confraternity (seadogs), Buccaneers (sea lords), Black Axe, Black Cat, Maphits Vikings, Mgba Mgba Brothers, Temple of Eden, Trojan Horse, Eiye Confraternity and the Jurists.

Others are Gentleman's club, The Fame, The Amazon (for women only) KKK, Royal Queen, Mafia, Neo-Black movement, Executioners, Black Beret, Dreaded Friends of friends, National Association of Adventures, Black Scorpion, Eagle club, The Termites and Fraternity of Friends (ibid.).

In late August, the Nigerian government "approved a grant of N154 million for 21 federal universities to beef up security, underlining its resolve to contain the spiralling menace of cult violence" (Nigeria News Network 27 Aug. 1999).

At the same time, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike was reported to have announced that, despite the absence of cult activities on the university's campus, it "has set up a special 13-member committee to maintain security and check secret cultism in the institution" (Post Express 31 Aug. 1999a). The committee includes "representatives from the police, state security services, the students' union government, as well as the academic and non-academic unions" (ibid.).

Similarly, the Lagos State University (LASU) set up a 15-member committee to develop strategies to deal with cultism and said that it "would screen students and staff with a view to determining cultists among them and take appropriate measures to deal with the situation" (Post Express 31 Aug. 1999b). The Lagos area zone of the National Association of Nigerian Students announced that it had "formally joined the crusade for the eradication of cultism, drug addiction and criminal activities on campus" and that its campaign would be actively supported by the non-governmental organization, Examination Ethics Project (EEP), which is reported to be very active in the campaign against cultism (ibid.).

Post Express also reported that 225 students at Abia State University (ABSU) and Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana, Afikpo in Ebonyi State had renounced their cult memberships before "thousands," and "hundreds of thousands," of witnesses at their respective institutions (31 Aug. 1999c). The cults were said to include Pirate Confraternity, Buccaneer, Black Axe, Black Angels, Jezebel, and Eyee. The newspaper stated that the renunciations at ABSU "followed an aggressive anti-cult campaign mounted by the university's authorities since the directive by the Federal Government to all heads of institutions of higher learning to stamp out cultism" (ibid.).

In September, Ago-Iwoye the chairperson of a "university visitation panel" at Ogun State University said it had made "a breakthrough with a disclosure that 23 student witnesses appeared before it to expose the cultists" and that another cult member had made a confession (Post Express 15 Sept. 1999).

In mid-September Post Express reported that "over 50 youths" had been killed in Bayelsa State in a four-day clash with military forces (16 and 17 Sept. 1999). The youths were alleged to be members of the Egbesu cult and Post Express refers to an AFP report that said that Ijaw youths had been "extorting money" from local motorcyclists. After police dispersed the youths they attacked a military outpost the next day where three soldiers were shot, "in apparent reprisal for [an] earlier killing" (16 Sept. 1999). On 17 September 1999 Post Express reported that four soldiers had died and stated that there were allegations that the youths were shot dead after being arrested and while on their way to prison. A military spokesperson said an investigation was being conducted and that if soldiers had acted improperly they would be disciplined (ibid.).

In late September, Delta State University (DELSU) authorities handed over to the state police, weapons that had been surrendered by student cult members (Nigeria News Network 27 Sept. 1999). The "students who formally renounced cultism" were commended by the state police commissioner (ibid.).

Nigeria News Network reported on 20 September 1999 that the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) had expelled 10 cadet officers following allegations of their involvement in cult activities.

Following the federal minister of education's announcement of increased funds to universities, a spokesperson of the Exam Ethics Project asked

[the minister's] approval for the hosting of the summit on the campaign against campus cult in December this year which will serve as an enabling summit for institutions to learn from the successful initiatives of their colleagues. He further sought the support of government to the freedom 2,000 partnership initiative being championed by Exam Ethics Project. The partnership he said, is a network of organisations, companies, agencies, institutions and individuals with the common objective of assisting government in its efforts to permanently eradicate campus cults and exam malpractices as a means of restoring excellence in educational institutions.

The immediate objective of the freedom 2,000 programme, he said is the sponsorship of distribution of 100,000 copies of the Anti-cult campaign handbooks and one million copies of anti-cult posters and handbills to educational institutions and public libraries (Post Express 30 Sept. 1999).

On 20 October 1999 a Vanguard editorial commented on the effect of the efforts against cults:

The gains so far made by the campaign against cultism in our tertiary institutions strongly reinforce our belief that no problem will be too much for this country once the authorities are determined to deal with them.

Stories from these institutions confirming that many erstwhile unrepentant cultists are now turning their backs on these dreaded fraternities. This gives cause for joy.

Since the federal government declared the war against cultism last July, and subsequently released N154million to the authorities of the federal universities to prosecute the campaign, there have been a series of remarkable evidence that the cultists have begun to retrace their steps. Many have publicly confessed their sins and begged for forgiveness and reintegration into the society of decent students. This is heart warming.

According to the latest reports, four lecturers and 279 students of Auchi Polytechnic recently renounced their membership of secret cults, bringing the number of born-again-cultists in the school to 613. At the University of Benin, 548 students have renounced their membership of the various fraternities. Also 300 students at the Federal Polytechnic Oko; 250 at the Abia State University of Science and Technology; 75 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; 450 at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology; 75 at the Federal Polytechnic, Uwana Afikpo; 61 at the Delta State University, Abraka; 22 at the University of Uyo; among others have publicly renounced their membership of cults.

However, we are disturbed by the seeming, new twist surrounding the penitent cultists. It is now being alleged that some of them have become tools for blackmail.

Some lecturers and students who have stood stoutly against the existence of the cult institutions are being accused of either being members of, or sponsors of cults. This allegation is currently gaining ground in several universities and polytechnics, with the Federal Polytechnic Oko seemingly standing out. This is a sad development likely to trivialize the gains of the anti-cult campaign.

In the light of this unfortunate development, we urge the various institutions to ensure that each case is thoroughly investigated to ensure that honest lecturers and students are not sacrificed in any hasty and precipitate action that may be tantamount to witch-hunting.

If the authorities at Oko and other institutions so far affected tread this path of openness, the institutions will be spared another round of crisis which a poor handling of this issue could precipitate.

Apart from this, now that the amnesty granted cultists to turn a new leaf has expired, the school authorities must be vigilant to ensure that the born-again cultists do not return to the old order.

They must, therefore, be constantly monitored and a properly managed package of rehabilitation designed to keep them fully engaged is put in place.

Those who refused to renounce their membership while they still had the chance must be made to face the full wrath of the law, as a deterrent to others once they are caught.

The following information was provided in a 2 November 1999 telephone interview with the Chief Executive Officer of Alliances for Africa (see below) who is Nigerian herself and visited the country in August 1999. The CEO added that the federal government had just made a major announcement pertaining to cults and that the issue received prominent attention in Nigeria. She described cults as "very dangerous," "monstrous," and possessing "frightening initiation rites" that can include rape, body disfigurements, and criminal activities such as armed robbery. She spoke of a "real crisis in the country" with respect to cults. She said that the first secret cult was set up years ago by Wole Soyinka in an attempt to imitate the good community work done by many American college fraternities. However, the CEO said that the secret societies were transformed through years of military rule and the effects of structural adjustment policies.

She stated that the government "has declared an all-out war" on university cults and that President Obasanjo has given the issue very high priority. However, in her opinion, government authorities are unable to protect students, despite the current expressed willingness of authorities. She said that a risk of exposure to cults is present at every tertiary institution, particularly at older institutions. For instance, she claimed that some parents now choose not to send their children to tertiary institutions for fear of cult activities. Her own mother did not want her sisters to go to Nigerian universities so they pursued their tertiary studies outside of Nigeria.

However, the CEO said that for a proper evaluation to be made as to whether the authorities can protect students, information as to the specific institution, cult, and time period is needed, since different cults are active at different institutions with varying degrees of responses from authorities at different times.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

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Alliances for Africa, London. 2 November 1999. Telephone interview with Chief Executive Officer. Alliances for Africa is a small non-governmental organization that works in the areas of human rights, conflict resolution, and sustainable development. During a 2 November 1999 telephone interview she said that the Alliances' activities in the U.K. focus on helping to clarify issues pertaining to refugees and immigration for various interest groups that include the British government. In Africa, it provides training and empowerment programs for non-governmental organizations in countries that include Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Congo.

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_____. 20 September 1999. "NDA Expels Four Cadets Over Homosexuality." http://www.nigerianews.net

_____. 27 August 1999. "Govt Slashes Phone Subscription Fee to N20,000." http://www.nigerianews.net

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_____. 16 July 1999. "Omole, OAU VC, Suspended, Students Torch Cult Suspect's Property." http://www.nigerianews.net

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_____. 8 August 1999. "120 Suspected Student Cultists to Face Auchi Poly Panel." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 3 August 1999. Tunde Sanni. "Varsity Authorities Begin Aggressive Hunt for Cult Students." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 1 August 1999. Patrick Odey. "21 Poly Students Face Trial for Cultism." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 31 July 1999. Gabriel Agbalue. "Senate Education Committee Urged to Legislate Against Cultism." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 30 July 1999. "ATBU Evolves Measures to Combat Cultism." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 24 July 1999a. Emmanuel Edom. "Soyinka Condemns OAU Killings, Promises Victims' Families Relief Packages." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 24 July 1999b. Tunji Adeyemi. "Cultism: PTA Indicts Schools." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 16 July 1999. Josiah Emerole. "FG Suspends OAU Vice-Chancellor; Okays Police Patrol on Campuses." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 15 July 1999. Adagogo Brown. "NANS Vows to Declare War Against OAU Cultists." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 6 July 1999. "Police Arrest 32 Suspected Student Cult Members." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 1 July 1999. Uchendu Wogu. "Five OAU Students Killed in Dawn Raid." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 18 June 1999. Emmanuel Belonwu Nzediegwu. "Secret Cults in Our Schools." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 16 June 1999. "Educationalist Wants Fight Against Cultism Intensified." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 14 May 1999. "Provost Exhorts Students Against Cultism." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 15 April 1999. Jude Okwe. "Cult Clash Claims Three Lives in UNICAL." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 8 April 1999. Lukkey Abawuru. "CLO Slams Police Over UNIYUO Student's Assault." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 17 March 1999. Sisaa Agboh. "Two Killed in LASU Cult Clash." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

_____. 22 February 1999. Bukola Olatunji. "Workshop Participants Identify Causes of Violence on Campus." www.postexpresswired.com [Accessed 28 Oct. 1998]

Sunday Punch. 15 August 1999. "Why I Turned Down the Daily Times Job." http://www.kilima.com/mediamonitor/mm-04-33.html [Accessed 2 Nov. 1999]

Tempo [Lagos]. 21 July 1999. "Nigeria; Save Universities From Cults and Dictators (Editorial)." (Africa News/NEXIS)

Vanguard [Apapa]. 20 October 1999. "Managing Repentant Cultists." http://www.afbis.com/vanguard/vc120109.htm [Accessed 21 Oct. 1999]