The Changing Faces of the Terror of Cultism in Nigerian Society
An Islamic Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.v4i4.1-4.2.97Keywords:
Nigeria, Christianity, Islam, cultism, AfricaAbstract
The menace of cultism in Nigerian society in general and our educational institutions in particular has reached an alarming stage that requires affirmative actions from all stakeholders. The scourge of cultism has claimed many lives of our youths and no serious authority can fold its arms and allow it to continue. It appears that the various efforts at curbing the menace have yielded no result. The corruption in most facets of our national life has finally subdued the educational institutions, which in the past took pride of place.
Most families are astonished to find out that children sent to school to learn and become better human beings in society have initiated
themselves into cult groups. The emergency of secret cultism has been characterized by some violent activities which include, physical torture of new recruits, maiming and killing of rival cult members and elimination of real and perceived enemies.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups with 36 states and one federal territory (Abuja). There are three major religions, namely Islam (50%), Christianity (40%), and Africa Indigenous Religions (10%). The effect of globalization is also allowing other new religious movements to make in-roads into Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of about 141 million people (2006 census). The counttry is rich in both human and material resources but is facing a lot of developmental challenges in almost all sectors due to poor leadership. The menace of cultism especially among Nigerian youths and some influential people represents one of the challenges facing the popular “giant” of Africa.
The aim of this paper is to bring to the fore the menace of cultism as a brand of terrorism and to adopt an Islamic lens to provide an
analysis of the terror of cultism in contemporary Nigeria.
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