Edo: Inside story of killings, inter-cult clashes in Ekpoma

Whenever folks gather to talk about killing fields in Nigeria,
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states easily come to mind. In
recent past, Jos, the Plateau State capital assumed the
inglorious position as the most notorious city to live in
Nigeria. Scores of deaths were recorded every day. A city once
acclaimed to be calm and peaceful became Nigeria’s version
of Iraq and Afghanistan. For now, the killings appear to have
abated. Unknown to many, there is a town called Ekpoma,
located in Edo State, South-south Nigeria where there is a
raging war of a kind. Those engaged in this bloodbath are not
terrorists or militants; they are students, farmers and artisans
in the community. For keen observers who have followed the
blood orgy, cultism in the historic town has been taken too
far.
Ekpoma town is the second most popular city in Edo State,
after Benin City, the state capital. It has an area of 502 km²
and a population of 125,842, according to the 2006 census.
The popular Ambrose Alli University (AAU) is situated in the
town. It also boasts of notable Nigerians and heavyweight
politicians. The main language spoken by indigenes is Esan.
Pidgin is equally very popular and has become the lingua
franca in the town. The town accommodates strangers from
every part of the country and they live happily together in
peace.
However, that peace has come under severe threats by sons
of anarchy who have turned the place to a war zone. The
endless cult clashes have resulted in the death of hundreds of
students and locals. The situation has so degenerated that
the community becomes a ghost town after 8pm every day, for
fear of being raped, robbed, murdered or attacked by cultists.
In Ekpoma, everyone now sleeps with one eye wide open.
The genesis
Violent clashes between rival cult groups in Ekpoma is as old
as the university in the town, AAU. Until the mid 1990s when
students of the university had a running battle with the
military and scores of students were killed, cultism was
regarded as something reserved for the misfits of the society.
After the military massacre that claimed over 100 lives of
students, various cult groups embarked on massive
membership drive. Freshmen were initiated, while old students
were sometimes blackmailed to enlist. Since then, the
university community and the entire Ekpoma town has lost its
peace.
Since the late 1990s, there has not been any semester that
students are not massacred or engaged in inter-cult battle. At
some point, some of the killings happened within the university
campus. Vice chancellors and deans of students at different
times, tried endlessly to mediate. Sometimes, they succeeded;
at other times, they failed. During those mediation meetings,
the vice chancellors, the dean of students, the police DPO and
leaders of various leaders of the cult groups stayed up through
the nights. A popular spot located opposite the famous
Igbinedion Hostel inside the university campus, was the
meeting point.
In its drive to stem the endless killings back then, the
university authority backed the formation of Anti-Cult
Campaign Organisation of Nigeria (ACCON). In its first few
years, the group succeeded in waging coordinated war against
cult-related activities in the university. Things, however,
changed when some daredevil cult members launched an early
morning attack on the base of ACCON in 2003 and killed eight
of its members. Thereafter, cultists infiltrated the group and
weakened its structure. Since then, it has lost its valour and it
has been unable to tackle cultism in the university. Observers
and students believe the anti-cult group is now being run by
cultists. In which instance, the devil thrives unchecked.
The new trend
In Ekpoma, it is difficult to tell who is a cultist. The whole
town has become a tapestry of cultists. Membership of cult
groups is no longer a special privilege enjoyed by students of
AAU. Locals are the new bosses. Mechanics, farmers,
electricians, okada riders and other artisans/technicians have
enlisted and the war is raging. A former student of the
university, Ehichioya (last name withheld), who runs a barber
shop in the town sat down with our correspondent and gave
graphical details of how cultism has eaten deep into every
fabric of life in Ekpoma. He equally spoke on series of
coordinated killings in the area and how police appear to have
been compromised.
“In Ekpoma, it is a crime to be law-abiding”, he began. “I
have spent all my life in this town. I am in my early 30s, so I
can tell you I understand how this town works. I am very
scared and many too in this town are scared. There is too
much lawlessness going on here and those that should ensure
there is peace are doing nothing. It is so bad that parents can
no longer tell their children what to do. It might not be as bad
as Boko Haram in the North, but we are in real trouble.
“In the past, only few students were members of popular cult
groups. I remember then as a kid how students used to block
the express lane when they were protesting. I also remember
how cult members used to clash and kill themselves. But the
school authority was quick to intervene then. Things really got
bad when a certain vice chancellor took over in 2004. He
destroyed students union activism and started fraternising
with cult members and holding meetings with them. That
action gave some sort of backing to those boys. Because they
knew they were not going to be arrested, they started
recruiting and initiating more members. This new relationship
between cult members and the vice chancellor gave rise to
cult activities.
“Before you knew it, cult boys started fighting inside the
campus. Soon, they took over the Students’ Union Government
(SUG). They started insisting on sponsoring their members
that will form part of SUG. Before you could say jack, SUG
officials started joining cult groups. It became an unwritten
rule that you must belong to a known cult group before you
could be elected as president of SUG. As I speak, that rule is
still there. Most SUG members in AAU are cult members and
the current vice chancellor is helpless.”
Aluya spoke further: “Now, it is different. What we have in
Ekpoma is now street cultism. All sort of people are joining
cult groups. Today, mechanics are even joining cult groups.
Sometimes, when you take your car to a local mechanic in
Ekpoma, you see something very strange. When a mechanic
goes under your car, you see a gun attached to his trousers.
He openly wears his band or cap which displays the cult
group he belongs to. That is how far they have taken cultism
in Ekpoma. Okada men threaten you and openly tell you that
they belong to a cult group and nothing will happen to them.
“Secondary school students have started joining cults now.
Some carry guns to school and this is very common in public
schools. So, by the time these boys get to the university,
cultism becomes a child’s play to them. They see cultism as
a lucrative venture and many young people are lured to join.
Some of them have become armed robbers. They lay siege
along the highway and even attack private homes at night. Go
to Iruekpen, Ujemen, Eguare, Ihumudumu and all small towns
and villages in Ekpoma. It is the same story. Cultism has gone
to the streets.”
There is a particular hotel in Ujemen owned by a former
chairman of the local government. That hotel is the new den
of robbers in Ekpoma. Cult wars start and end in that hotel.
Only on Christmas day, some group of cult boys stabbed a 22-
year-old boy to death. Prior to that ugly incident, a similar
case was reported of how another young man was shot dead
in the same hotel.
Armed robbery attacks in Ekpoma
In 2011, some dare-devil robbers, suspected to be students of
AAU, launched a daylight attack in one of the new generation
banks. Lives were wasted and millions of Naira carted away.
According to eyewitnesses, the robbers spent over two hours
and police officers in the area were chased away. “It was a
gory experience and something I wish I could erase from my
memory. What really surprised me on that fateful day was how
a young lady mounted the main road and chased policemen
away,” one of the eyewitnesses recalled.
During that deadly attack that changed a lot of things in the
town, the assailants stormed the town with a juju man and
dynamites. The entrance to the building was bombed and
sporadic gunshots were fired. There were series of other high-
profile bank robberies in the town within the period. Angered
by the refusal of Edo State government to act swiftly, all the
commercial banks in the town closed down operations for over
six months. Residents were forced to carry out their bank
transactions in Benin City, Uromi or Auchi. After series of
pleas and interventions from stakeholders, banks in the area
reopened, but only work half day for fear of being attacked
again by robbers.
“I remember that day those robbers came to Ekpoma. It was
like a war situation. A girl operating a salon opposite the bank
was killed by a stray bullet. Policemen were chased way. Even
military guys were scared to engage the robbers. For over two
hours, they operated freely and held the town hostage. Before
that major robbery, the town had witnessed other robbery
attacks. Banks were always targeted and people were even
scared to go to the banks. The sad thing is that, we all know
how this thing started and since everyone has been
compromised, no one can bring an end to this madness,”
Aluya spoke briefly on robbery attacks in the town.
There is another fear silently expressed by residents and
natives of the town as the country prepares for the general
elections. It is an established fact that elections in Ekpoma
are among the most violent in the country. Snatching of ballot
boxes and harassment of voters are common occurrences in
the area. With the proliferation of arms in the town and the
secret backing of some candidates by known cult groups,
violence might break out in Ekpoma and spill over to other
neighbouring towns and villages.