Bayelsa state governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has signed the Secret Cult, Societies and Similar Activities Prohibition Amendment Law 2018, making it mandatory for offenders to be jailed upon conviction for not less than 20 years without an option of fine.
Dickson expressed worry about the rise in cult and other related activities in the state, especially in Yenagoa and its environs, noting that with the amendment, the law enforcement agencies have been empowered to deal decisively with suspected cultists and their sponsors.
“As a government, we cannot allow this ugly trend of events to continue unabated. A situation where children below 15, 16, 17 and majority of our youth population are members of one dangerous cult group or society, where they carry guns and other dangerous weapons and shoot, maim, kill and create insecurity in parts of the state, is totally unacceptable. As a responsible government, we must put an end to this and it has to be now.
He said the law had existed since May, 2012, was necessitated by the urgent need to check the rise in cult activities among youths. He said the amendment was necessary to give the law enforcement agencies more powers to proactively protect lives and property as well as safeguard the future of the state.
The law also empowers the police and other law enforcement agencies to conduct search on the homes of suspected cultists and sponsors, even without warrant, while buildings and premises used for cult, activities, initiations as well as the storage of arms and dangerous weapons will be forfeited to the government.
The law equally empowers the state government to destroy such buildings and premises, without any compensation to its owners. While calling on landlords and property owners not to allow criminals and cultists to turn their property into centre of crime and criminality, the governor urged Bayelsans to report all suspicious and cult related activities to the appropriate authorities.
Responding, the Bayelsa state commissioner of police, Mr. Don Awunah said the new law puts the state on the front line in the fight against cultism and cult-related activities in the country.
With the amendments, he believes the police now have the comprehensive powers to confront crime and criminality head-on, stressing that, most crimes in the state are cult-related.
