Rise of child cult!sts turning schools into battlef!elds (1)
Children as young as 12 in secondary schools are stealthily lured into violent cult groups, leaving behind a trail of bloodshed, fractured families, and lost futures. This investigative piece by GODFREY GEORGE exposes the grim reality of child cultism and its devastating impact on a nation nearly crippled by socioeconomic crises
At 16 Ipalibo has been arrested 12 times. In 2024 alone, he spent 11 days behind bars—11 nights in cold, filthy cells—with his childhood slipping through the cracks.
He lost his father before he turned four. His mother, Mina, eventually found love again. A young man was willing to marry her despite the weight of single motherhood. But Ipalibo was a thorn in their flesh. Mina had moved in with her lover and taken Ipalibo with her.
After being expelled from his second private school, he was sent off to the community secondary school to continue his education, but that did nothing.
It was one school fight after another until he was arrested and detained for cracking another student’s skull during a scuffle for seats at a social event held within the school premises.
He was subsequently suspended by the principal and asked to come back when he was ready to be better. He was in SS 1 (Year 10) at that time.
Back at home, if Ipalibo was not stealing from his stepfather, he was in brawls with the neighbours’ children or vanishing into the night for days, only to show up lean and sickly with machete marks on his back, a swollen jaw, a broken arm, or an injured, infected head.
In 2023, he was still 15. The community had a short period of power rationing, which lasted some weeks.
His mother’s small generator became the lifeline of their compound. Neighbours crowded her home to charge their phones and power banks. Most of them plugged in their devices and only came to pick them up when Mina turned off her generator before midnight.
But one August evening, something terrible happened—Ipalibo gathered all the phones charging in the living room and disappeared.
“For days, we didn’t see him,” Mina recalled, her voice heavy with regret.
It seemed like a random theft. Her phone, her husband’s, and over 11 others—including a neighbour’s brand-new iPhone 11—were gone. Yet the chargers remained plugged in, mocking them.
“At first, we thought it was a petty thief. We called the police. I searched everywhere. But my husband noticed something—while everyone panicked, Ipalibo was missing. His was the only phone still charging.”
They scoured the neighbourhood, checking his usual hideouts. No sign of him.
“For two weeks, no one saw him. Then someone said they spotted him sneaking out of a hotel with some boys—smoking, looking rough. One of them, Bruno, is a notorious thug, always getting into fights. I ran like a madwoman, but by the time I got there, he was gone.”
She involved the police. Days later, they found him by the waterside in another community, loitering with older boys, thick smoke curling from the marijuana sticks they held.
a Bar-Btch, always a Bad Btch.’”
“Their activities are very clandestine, and only members can really say what they do. But from my findings, they stand for each other and would go for operations against anyone who dares touch their member,” said local researcher Peterside.
He cited an incident where a girl had gone with her group to beat up and strip another girl, who had allegedly slept with her boyfriend.
“When we traced the matter, we found out that they were girls from the BarBeach cult group, who banded together and attacked the young girl, brutally injuring her because of a man,” he added.
Greenland cult group
The Greenland cult group, also known as the Greenlanders, is a prominent and notorious secret society operating primarily in Rivers and Bayelsa states in Nigeria. They are one of the numerous cult groups contributing to the region’s insecurity through violent activities and criminal enterprises.
In January 2025, suspected members of the Greenlanders invaded the Igbogene community, a suburb of Yenagoa in Bayelsa State, resulting in the deaths of three individuals: 28-year-old Donaldson Mison, 27-year-old Addy Mulan, and 29-year-old Greenboy Dudella. The assailants, numbering about ten and armed with dangerous weapons, attacked the community around 8:00 pm, causing residents to flee for safety. One of the victims was reportedly the son of a former head of the community vigilante group.
The Greenlanders have also been involved in violent clashes with rival cult groups, such as the Bobos. These confrontations often lead to loss of life and heightened tension within affected communities.
The Bayelsa State Police Command has acknowledged the presence of over 50 organised cult groups in the state, with the Greenlanders being among the most active.
The origins of the Greenlanders are not well documented, but they are believed to have emerged from the complex socio-political landscape of the Niger Delta. Factors such as economic disenfranchisement, political marginalisation, and unemployment have contributed to the proliferation of cult groups in the region. These groups reportedly often engage in various criminal activities, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and political thuggery, further destabilising the area.
Greenland hungers for high-scale violence, says ex-member
A social commentator who lives in Bayelsa and claimed to be an ex-member of the Greenland cult group told this reporter that the violence associated with the group was high-scale.
“This is not a group of small boys. I joined when I was already in senior school in Amassoma, Bayelsa State. We had what we called ‘Point One’, who is the leader. The ‘Point Two’ was the second in command. We also had the ‘Executioner’, who sanctioned operations.
“It used to be a social club of young men who gathered to drink, smoke, and sleep with women, but I saw them perpetrate violence first-hand. I could not graduate from my secondary school because of an attack that happened in my school at that time in 2012.”
“People who knew about the case at the time can testify. Many of our members were killed in their homes. I ran to Brass to stay with my grandma for months before I heard that most people from my unit (local area) had been killed. I was told by a senior member that I had to take over as the ‘Point One’, and I ran away.
“I am an adult now and have stopped all that, but it was a serious challenge then. My parents did all they could to preserve my life,” the source said.
Efforts to curb the influence of the Greenlanders and similar cult groups have been ongoing, our correspondent learned.
Law enforcement agencies, in collaboration with community leaders, have been working to apprehend members and dismantle their networks. However, the deeply entrenched nature of these groups and their ability to recruit new members—often from a young age—pose significant challenges to these initiatives.
Monitor your kids, educationist urges parents
Experts say this rise in secondary school cultism demands urgent intervention to prevent further violence and safeguard the future of Nigerian youths.
An educationist and child/women’s rights advocate, Mercy Chepaka, urged parents to look out for their children in secondary schools, stating that they are not too young to be lured into cult groups.
“It is no longer a matter of waiting for them to get into university before you start sounding the alarm. Before they enter JSS1, sit them down, tell them about the dangers and how they might be attacked or killed, and how their futures could be truncated. Give them that consciousness so they go to school armed with knowledge,” she said.
Chepaka also urged school administrators to ensure that new intakes are thoroughly checked before they are admitted.
“Most schools do not do background checks. As long as money is involved, they will admit anyone into the system. It should not be so. Otherwise, you will end up breeding a school filled with violent cultists, and by the time you realise it, it may be too late for you,” she advised.
