Over 70 youths renounce cultism in Ekiti community

No fewer than 70 youths in Ikere-Ekiti, headquarters of Ikere local government area of Ekiti State have traditionally renounced their membership of different cult groups in the community.

Tribune Online recalled that there were repeated cult clashes that resulted in the loss of about 10 lives and property worth millions of naira destroyed in the last three months in the community.

Speaking with newsmen in his palace, on Wednesday, the Ogoga of Ikere-Ekiti, Oba Samuel Adejimi Adu, noted that the community was worried over the recent development leading to the killing of youths, hence the reason for the proactive measures to forestall future occurrences.

He explained that the community invited the youths who were cult members to the palace to renounce their membership and take an oath not to return to the act, saying it was embraced by a majority of the youths.

The traditional ruler disclosed that the community would not fold its arm and allowed miscreants in the name of cultism to turn the town into battlefields.

According to him, the traditional method and prayers to the ancestors were deployed by the community after the failure of security agencies to address the ugly situation. He lamented that security agents failed to act in record time with intelligence provided by the community which he said resulted in the killings witnessed.

He said: “Before the killings occurred by the cult members, we got our native intelligence and it was passed through to the security agencies but unfortunately they failed us and nothing was done in this regard and you saw what happened recently.

“We even gave them names and they could not even arrest anybody and it is like we don’t have security and we have to resort to traditional means to ensure that we have peace in our community. We can’t stay here and be waiting for security agents that are not doing anything to help us in the town.

“Interestingly, over 70 youths came to the palace here to renounce cultism with oath-taking and I can tell you that others who are not in Ikere-Ekiti are even calling that they are ready to come here to do same.”

He revealed that after taking the oath and renouncing their membership at the palace, any of the youths who returned to cultism would face dire consequence which he said would be catastrophic.

He identified parental failure and value degradation as reasons why most of the youths were initiated in cultism, adding that everything possible would be done to redeem and rehabilitate them back to society.

” What I observed in all of these is parenting failure and devaluation of our values and we will do everything to help them. We are trying to work with individuals and organisations to empower these youths because we believe some of them joined these groups out of ignorance,” Oba Adu said.

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Over 70 youths renounce cultism in Ekiti community