The rising Case of Cultism in Igede land by Okwo romeon

 

Cultist gangs and criminals been paraded by police

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It is a new trends in Igede lands, people knew us for our values, uprightness and integrity. When did “we” as people loss all these values is a question I can't find the answers right now.

This short snap of my boyhood reminds me the plenty stuff of uprightness with forwardness others tribals seen our tribe those days .my story goes like this-:

As a young boy immediately after my secondary school in far away Suleja in Niger state early nineties. I went for a job placement I’had put in an application. They was no formal interaction that day as the owner of the supermarket which I had applied told me,he can not attend to me hence I was very young and he need to know me better and insists I must come with a guarantor.

Without prejudice to the owner, I was angry with him , how will I bring a guarantor before I am even given an interview for a job I has not gotten.

I’was naive and inexperienced at that age. I never thought I was going to work after a high school certificate. my ambition was strong,I needed to proceed straight to a tertiary institution, have my degree but here I am frustrated in my very first time in search of a job.

At my school those days, we never thought of jobs after school,so the thought of jobs requirements wasn't on my list  of checklist at that age,I should have get that ready because I was a child that doesn’t like been surprised.

What if I do not have one, I was reminiscing with myself as I work away from the shop owner that day.

To make my story short, the next day I was there with my brother and all the owner of the supermarket could asked was that “my elder should speak language to me”

Astonishingly,my bro was confused too but reluctantly he asked me with our dialect if I had done anything wrong when I came to submit my application in the supper Market and I responded to him "no"  in dialect.

That was the process that seal the interview I needed to get the job.I was asked to start working immediately.

When my brother asked why he don't want to proceed with interviews again , his response was that , "as he was going through my application, he under I am from Igede and he was opportunity to worked with some of our people , and he need to confirm if am not faking it to get the job because the general notion going around the town then was that “only Igede people are good to entrust money and businesses”so they was scramble for our people and others tribes from our state were also claiming identity to also secure a job.

He went on to say, we are good,gentle, easy going, violence free and the honest people to entrust money with.

That was my story, I eventually end up not taking the job as my brother insisted,the supper market was too large for me alone to manage in case anything go wrong,he may not have the mean to settle any shortages looking at the cleverness of the Edo man who would have eventually become my ever first employer in life .

That was the righteousness of our people then, “carefulness” in all we do.

This were the characters “we” aligede, are known for then which have remained with most of us today, nor violence, no restlessness. no gambling, no stealing or engaging in others social vices that is detrimental to our reputations.

It was almost getting to a month plus two weeks today I was at Oju , I had accompany my elder friend Mr. Peter Ogbo to his mother burial at Odaleko, after the ups and downs in his country home, we had made it down to Oju main town two days after the burial rites and that evening,my friend has suggested ,we should stroll out and get a bottle of wine which, we can used to relaxed why we make stocks of the whole burial activities.

The shop wine shop was barely few meters from my host house so I suggest we should just leged it down to enable me take a cursor assessment of the town in my usual style. Honestly I m not the home coming guys and my quest to see how massive oju town has expanded is a thing of joy to me. 

I have not envisage any trouble that day knowing my tribals people very well because of our free-trouble life-styles. As we strolled, We were about a stone-throw from the Wine Bar along Ikachi road precisely,when we saw groups of young lads with axe and cutlasses hopping down another young guy. At first, the scenes was somehow blurred, not very clear from our distance but as we stir closer, they appear two,three and then the forth persons .

But as the resistance from the lone guy keep getting stronger, the others two guys start beckoning,with all manners of their signs languages and within some minutes,the place was jammed with about fifteen guys.All able teen boys armed with all kind of deadly weapons.

My friend and I couldn't move again,same with most people around, I can see some of the artisans trying moving their tools as well some of the women traders along the road were screaming themselves to safety with their kids.

Cultist Dangerous sign wear by young boys as necklace 

As the fighting get intense, the boy on ground struggle and struggle till he broke free and start running towards us but fortunately for us, he wisely confused his predators and ran towards the wine shop and eventually jumped into it ,that was his saving grace that day.

I was speechless, so is my friend, including every one along that street that day.the acts was like a cinemas to us,we can't just explain what has just taken place but the neighborhood knew they were cults guys, a new norm that has be breed into the land.

A cult group in Ige..de......??, was what came out of me, to those that knew me, you could imagine my posture, my calmness became dried up and I was left mystified, my mancho looks turned to a weightless feather, and like it used to be say, “the man in me die before coming back.again.

For gods stake, what is going on, my voice wiper as I flipped out the question unto the uneasy calmness that surrounded the air. The boys turned the area upside down within the twilight as no one was dare enough to challenge them.

Before I could said jack, they had gone, on motorbikes they moved, like commandos, they ride on displaying their empty viruses with no future ambitions,(in what I called NFA),

 A witness later told me , ”that had been the mood of their operations, they came, terrorized and unleash mayhem at will.This activities has been going on like this in two years.yes,two solid good year's going.! you heard me,it sound like a hammer right? This should concern all son and daughters of this great land!

I couldn't get it and I asked,what has my mother land turned into...?

That gory scenes captions my experience in Oju, no wonder, the peaceful coexistence we have been living as brothers keeper is no longer obtainble in our land,no wonder the machinery of war among us is easily activated among us than our collective voices that we could have used to fight for what is binding us a people.

The bitter facts is that, they are enemy's within us as Igede people now, some of our politicians had invented this social vices from others climes into our politics and their invention is home-grown now and we shall be paying the pride if nothing is being done .

Wherever, our youngs lads has learned such an ugly acts from should be a thing of graves concern to every good spirited Igede son and daughter.

It is true developments comes with social vices, but it is upon us as concerned citizens to pressured government,Religion houses, our education institutions, motor park unions, Okada riders associations, peer groups , town unions meeting,market unions and all concerned authorities to rise to this challenges.

We may be living in denials in twenty first century,if we think, such things will never happen in our land.

Igede is not an island, we lives among neighbors and our youths are traveling, they are mixing up and socializing with all kinds of people, some are bound to embed this negative characters home, this is the root cause of the current problems among many others.

For me, I think,this is also a pointer for social Re-engineering in our community, the time to rise to the occasion is now.

The social Re-engineering should include all concerned institutions, village peer groups,civil rights groups, Ngo, media ,our academia as well all concerned persons in Igede nation.

Our traditional rulers especially His Royal Majesty, (HRM), the Adahura Ny Igede, Rtd Commissioner Eru Ero, an intelligent police officer to the core should rolled out his stamp of authority to the Divisional police officer (DPO) of Oju to deploy his men and nip these acts on the bud, Any child suspect of belonging to any cult group should not be spear, serious problems need holistic approach and there is no time better than now.

Also our District heads must be instructed by His Majesty to monitor and report attitudes of such youngs lads across the communities immediately to the right authorities , some of them exhibit this attitude in funerals, and others social gatherings after they are drunk-off. If possible, local vigilants can be empowered to arrest these kind of persons.

Igede lands must be weed of these miscreants before their roots became too heavy to cut off.

As I'write, it is imperative to know that, this act is deeply rooted now across Igede lands and it will take a pushing force to deal with this problems.

Our religious institutions has a major role to play, Igede is a land dominated by Christian faith, strong evangelical gospel is needed and it should be preached to disabused the minds of the youths against such evil vices.

The Divisional police officer(DPO) of Oju should understand, Igede especially Oju main town is just growing, a town with very low commercial activity, where police men are deployed along Otukpo - Ito road to collect fifty fifty naira from Okada on compulsory base do not portray the modern kind of policing expected in low crime place like Oju.

 Apart from the cults boys which is just spring up, our lands and people are peaceful.My experience with some of the police officers on two occasion along the Obi-Oju road was an eyesore but time will not allow me to say much on that now, but this Is a clear called to the police Boss to do the right things, .

The road to Oju is no road by every standard why still taxing the Okada and other vehicles who's risk their motors on such road to bring services to our people?

The Nigeria police. 

While I commends your efforts,because after some day after the incident of the cult group, I saw your men stationed their Hilux Van at the very spot (Ikachi Road Junction). This is commendable I must say but please, don't tax our okada riders,it is the only mean of making a journey within our towns because Igede has been neglected in Benue state by every standards not even a single tared road. 

Okwo Romeon is the editor at large with The Prime Newspaper Makurdi, a season Reporter, Columnist and Public Relations Practitioner,based in the nation capital Abuja.sms only to +2348035809004 and email @bonromeon@gmail.com or follow him www, romeonropelblogspot.com or all social media, account @ Romeon Ropel.