The following information was provided by Wole Soyinka, Nigerian playwright, Nobel laureate and currently a Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, during a 15 May 1998 telephone interview with the Research Directorate.

Wole Soyinka founded Pyrates Confraternity when he was a student in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1952. The mandate of the confraternity was to fight for human rights and social justice in Nigeria. The confraternity would engage in peaceful protests against the Nigerian government and hold an annual colloquium.

The name Pyrates Confraternity was chosen for "fun" and intended to mock, and the "y" was intended to dissociate the group from modern pirates. Furthermore, the use of the word "confraternity" was intended to distinguish the Pyrates from other fraternities.

Today, there are Pyrates confraternities throughout Nigeria and in other parts of the world, such as London, Japan and Houston. The confraternity is still very active and high-profile in Nigeria, and its activities are still non-violent in nature. In Nigeria, the confraternity is composed of roughly 3,500 members who are mostly male. The Pyrates operate openly, but are considered "clandestine" by the authorities. The Nigerian authorities have labelled the confraternity a "sinister cult" and other groups have formed to "mimic" the Pyrates. To dissociate themselves from these "mimic groups," the Pyrates Confraternity had decided to operate outside university campuses; therefore, there should not be any campus groups of the confraternity anywhere in Nigeria at the present time.

Membership in the Pyrates Confraternity would be problematic today considering that the group has been singled out by the authorities as a "political opponent." In specific cases, Wole Soyinka stated that early last year the Pyrates Confraternity's main office in Lagos was raided and that in late 1997, several members of the confraternity in Port Harcourt were arrested and detained for participating in an election boycott campaign. Some members remain in detention. Overall, members of the Pyrates Confraternity are considered "guilty by association" by the Nigerian authorities.

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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Wole Soyinka, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. 15 May 1998. Telephone interview.

National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Washington.

PEN American Center, New York.

Oxford University Press, United Kingdom.

University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Two sources could not provide information on the above-mentioned subject.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).