Document #1283715
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.
References
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.
Additional Sources Consulted
Post Express Wired
[Internet]: http://www.postexpresswired.com.
Online searches: NEXIS, WNC, IRB