From Nonye Udumiri, Aba
Residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State have decried the rapid increase in number of youths currently getting involved in cult related activities.
A cross session of residents who spoke to News Echo lamented that almost every teenager in the city both male and female are seeing cultism as delightful engagement.
The residents however, blamed the rise in cult related activities on parents, government and rotten education system that have left the entire society open for evil wrong activities.
News Echo gathered that different cult groups now claim territorial control in every axis of the city without much fear accorded to their activities.
It was gathered that while Ogbor-Hill is controlled by a group called Supreme Vikings; Over-Rail by Aro-Baga, Osisioma by Aye, Ndiegoro by Aro-Baga and other areas by other cult groups.
Mr. Clifford Eze, a resident of Obohia road and a retired police officer said the activities of cultists have been on the increase since 2019, especially in areas where security operatives find it difficult to enter.
“I served in many states during my active days, except one of our neigbouring states here, I’ve hardly seen any other state where parents condone evil like Aba.
“When little boys and girls you know the day they were born starts threatening you, beating people up and parading themselves as kings and queens of a street what do we call that?
“They have parents, their parents can’t caution them, but soon when security operatives start dealing with them, their parents will be running to different media houses shouting how their children were dealt with.
“This cannot continue I must tell you. Most of them have never seen the gate of any higher institution, but keep claiming to be in school.
“This Obohia road and its environs is the worst. I’ve spoken to those who care to listen, but those who don’t care will get what they’re looking for very soon.”
Comrade Chucka Peter Okoye, President of Center for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS) said that cult activities have taken over Aba and urged government to end it before it escalates.
“Almost every teenager is a cultist. They go about killing themselves, robbing, stealing and even abusing the female folks. They live in our society, we know they exist, the Government know they exist, they are not ghosts. Police know they exist.
“Go to Agu road here in Ndiegoro and see the mess there. It’s even difficult for security operatives to get them because of the mess the roads there have been in for many decades.” Okoye said that several years of government negligence has made Ndiegoro axis of Aba a criminal zone.
He said that there is need for landlords, security operatives and government to always have meetings for profiling of people residing in a particular area, stressing that such will help to trace the cultists and move them off the society. He added that the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) is not working, as most of the members only use the PCRC emblem to escape security checks on the road.
