A Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, who in 1997 completed a study on cults in the course of a project on university governance, stated in a 14 June 1999 telephone interview that in all cults members are threatened by death. The professor, who is visiting HUCSWR cited the example of a Black Beret member (a breakaway group of the Black Axe) who joined a born-again Christian group and was attacked in his residence quarters by cult-members who stabbed him repeatedly. When the victim was rescued and removed to a medical facility he was once-again attacked by cult-members who posed as well-wishers and sought to "finish him off" during a visit in broad daylight. The Professor of Religious Studies added that cults engage in "bending" activities which constitute severe enough punishment that members wishing to renege the cult are brought back into the fold. He gave the example of a student he had interviewed in the course of his research who admitted having been taken to a stadium and beaten and lost his teeth as a result of the punishment. The Professor also referred to the use of "kokoma potion" which is named after a dance. The kokoma is a drink which may contain hashish and coke and transforms the one who consumed it into someone who can "do anything" without actually realizing what he or she is doing. The Professor of Religious Studies added that apart from the "oath and covenanting during initiation" which indoctrinates members, the cults function by "infusing fear which is encapsulating" in such a way that they believe, as in the case of the Vikings cult group, that the "grand eye will get them" no matter what.

In a 9 June 1999 telephone interview an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania responded in the affirmative when asked if cult members could be killed by fellow cultists for breaking the oath of secrecy. The Associate Professor gave the example of the infamous case of a female student cult member having been gangraped by cultists in order to intimidate her into keeping quiet about cult activities. The same girl was eventually killed before she could testify in a scheduled trial and her death was attributed to revenge on the part of cults. The Associate Professor of Anthropology also made reference to mystical or physical threats or attacks on cult members to ensure silence.

Although numerous Nigerian press articles describe campus violence attributed to cult activities and cult rivalries involving death, specific reference to arrested cult members subsequently being killed could not be found in the sources consulted.

No specific references to cult members having been arrested, questioned and threatened with death for breaking the oath of silence could be found among the sources consulted.

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.

Center for the Study of World Religious, Harvard University, Boston, Massachussets. 14 June 1999. Telephone interview with Professor visiting from the University of Nigeria, Department of Religious Studies.

Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 9 June 1999. Telephone interview with Associate Professor of Anthropology.

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