NEWSLETTER

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WORDS BY BRUNO BAYLEY ILLUSTRATIONS BY PADDY JONES



You may think that putting up with the Frisbee society in the student union bar is a total hassle, but try going to Nigeria. The first Nigerian student fraternity was set up by Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka in 1954, and Nigeria used to have the best higher education system in all of Africa. Recently it’s all gone down the pan though. The fraternities have metamorphosed into violent gangs.

Widely referred to as cults, these fraternities are accused of involvement in criminal activities, intimidation, torture and hundreds of murders. They operate largely with impunity thanks to their links to the army, government and the police force. Remi was studying law at Ogun State University from 1990 to 1994 when, due to a misunderstanding, he was tortured and forced to flee Nigeria. 

Vice: Do you remember the first time you became aware of the fraternities at your university?

Remi: It was during my first week at university, when I was warned about wearing a Raiders baseball cap on campus.

Why was the hat a problem?

The insignia on the hat was similar to that of one of the confraternities on our campus at the time.  They therefore saw it as a way of me showing either allegiance or membership.

Can you explain, from your point of view, what the problem of these “cults” is? How did this change from “fraternity” to “cult” occur?

I believe that the initial fraternity, the Pyrates, was formed with the aim of being a real fraternity. However, even then there seemed to have been some elements of a gang imbibed, in that it tilted it towards the “We are a unit that has our own laws and when the laws or codes of our group are in conflict with the laws of the land then our laws prevail” mentality.

Why were the Pyrates set up?

At the time it seemed to have been geared towards combating colonialism and elitism. However, the confraternities that followed made this lawless, combatative stance applicable to most laws of the land. They came to believe that obedience to their creed meant more than human life itself.  They are more cults than confraternities now because they have added spiritual elements to their brotherhoods that previously did not exist.

What is the basis of these cults?

The cults are about brotherhood, people believing in strength in numbers, and being superior to non-cult members.  Political beliefs tend to be far from their agenda, they tend to be motivated mainly by money and dominance.

What kind of activities do these “cults” get up to? 

They tend to be involved in gang rivalry, “muscle for hire” activities, and social activities.  They have been around for over 30 years in Nigerian institutions, and now have members in many high places in Nigerian society and even abroad. Initially it was all about inter-cult fighting; now they do loads of other things to get money for arms. In fact, for anything that will help them gain supremacy.

What is the link between the army, police, government and these cults?

No official link, really. The police try to hunt them down and the government openly condemn them. However, in all three of these establishments you have people that were once fraternity members who are now in very senior positions.  Some of them are also the parents of cult members and therefore protect them when they are caught.

What were your experiences of cult behaviour at university?

When I was at university, one never really knew who was who. You could easily offend a rival cult because you were friends with someone who was in another “setting”, as they called them at the time.  You had to be very aware of what you said and did, because you did not know who was involved.  It was just such an issue that led to me being attacked. I had a flatmate who was a member of one group and a close friend who was a member of another. My friend would come and see me at our flat, which was just outside the school campus, and my flatmate and his co-members believed that I was therefore part of the other set and we were spying on them. They therefore decided to deal with me severely.

What do you mean by “deal with severely”?

It means that I was beaten with a hosepipe by five people and then burnt with cigarettes until I passed out.

Jesus. Do these cults have their own strongholds?

They normally don’t have their own accommodation or strongholds, which makes them more dangerous, because they are everywhere. They are your best friend, your brother, your lecturer, your classmate. But you don’t necessarily know who is who. Only 10 per cent are known, the rest might just be ordinary people that you would easily hang out with.

Who would you say are the most famous cults? 

The most notorious cults are the Eiye confraternity, the Buccaneers, the Black Axe, and then you also have female cults like the Jezebels.

How has the problem changed since you experienced it? Is it being dealt with?

It has worsened dramatically. In my days, in schools, they used to stab, cut and beat each other up. Deaths were mainly accidents. The violence was based on intimidation.

The next generation took it up a notch by actually setting out to kill each other. There was the introduction of guns, and it is now like a full-blown “Wild West” style standoff. It is now not uncommon for people to be killed. It seems like the people signing up to join these fraternities accept the fact that, if they live through the experience, they will be lucky and it will show their superiority to others and that will elevate them in the cult.

How do you see the problem being resolved? 

The problem will get worse and has already started heading downhill. When these young ones who have grown to have no regard for human life grow up they will take this attitude into their adult lives, therein leading to lawlessness and the breakdown of wider society. The moral codes of these cults will permeate general life. This can only be combated the way any epidemic must be dealt with, by swift sanitation of the universities, and the implimentation of a hard line which does not depend upon whose son you are.  Long prison terms that cannot be reduced with money, bribery or social standing.

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