Cultism spreads into robbery, kidnapping and oil bunkering, disrupting nightlife in Delta

Delta State’s tougher anti-cultism law has been welcomed as a decisive move against one of the state’s most persistent security threats. Yet months after the Delta State House of Assembly passed the Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cultism (Amendment) Bill, 2025, reports of daily arrests, deadly clashes, targeted killings and reprisal attacks continue.

The violence reaches communities in Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Agbor and Asaba. Rival groups fight over territory, with gun battles threatening public safety and disrupting economic activity. The attacks have also affected everyday life. Businesses close early in volatile areas, nightlife has declined in some communities, and parents worry about young men who may be recruited or mistaken for members during clashes.

The amendment aims to remove legal ambiguities that can obstruct investigations and prosecutions. It also strengthens provisions against terrorism and the unlawful use of explosives. But the article argues that stronger laws cannot, on their own, dismantle criminal networks rooted in wider social, economic and security problems.

Cultism has moved far beyond its origins in secret confraternities at tertiary institutions. The groups now operate as sophisticated criminal gangs involved in armed robbery, kidnapping, extortion, illegal oil bunkering, political violence and drug trafficking. Legal practitioner Francis Avbenagha warned that treating cultism mainly as an academic problem misses the shift into villages and communities. “Legislation without a clear eyed understanding of the enemy is a sword swung in the dark,” he said.

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Legislation without a clear eyed understanding of the enemy is a sword swung in the dark.