Having been recruited into a cult group on account of ignorance or errors of judgment, refuse to participate in dangerous initiation rites usually meant to test your strength and resilience; to “harden” you up and increase your capacity for endurance; to place you on oath and increase the level of mutual trust; and to ensure you dread the power of the group. Report immediately to your parents, school authorities or law enforcement agencies.

Renunciation stories confirm that cultists organize initiation rites for four major reasons: to test the strength and resilience of potential members; to “harden” them and increase their capacity for endurance; to place them on oath and increase the level of mutual trust; and to ensure that they fear and dread the power of the group.

The process of initiation is generally an ordeal that involved very gruesome procedures. Invariably, it takes place in the middle of the night at very secluded places like burial grounds, swamps, remote villages, and very hidden locations within the campus perimeter. Invariably, the participants place themselves under the influence of drugs and alcohol. During such ceremonies, all cultists present, both old and new, subject themselves to all known methods of torture complete with beatings, stabbings, cigarette burns etc. Blood oath is always an important part of the process. Sometimes native doctors are called in the prepare charms for those being initiated.

On the average, initiations last for about 21 days. During this period cult members and those being initiated are not involved in any academic work. The last day of the initiation may take place outside the institution and may involve cultists and potential cultists from various institutions pulled together for the cruel rites.

The first seven days is usually devoted to shopping and parties. From the 8th to the 14th day, those being initiated are given dangerous assignments to execute like armed robbery, raping a particular student or lecturer, stealing a document from the office of a Principal Officer of the institution, kidnapping somebody. The 18th and 21st days are dedicated to drills and torture of the most dangerous types. What happens on the last day is nothing short of a horror story.

As is now known, not all those who start the process complete it. Those who are lucky drop by the wayside out of weakness or inability to endure the tortures. They are released and warned never to talk about their ordeal if they are lucky. Some die in the process and are secretly buried. Such students are declared missing and are never found. Cultists are always armed to the teeth at initiation venues with guns, machetes, axes, spears, arrows, charms, etc ready to ward off intruders or rival cult groups. There are regular media reports regarding arrest of cultists in the process of initiation (e.g., Punch Newspaper, August 31, 1999)

The law of initiation therefore provides that if you find yourself recruited into a cult group on account of ignorance or errors of judgment, refuse to participate in the initiation rites. Report immediately to your parents, school authorities and law enforcement agencies. To guarantee your survival in campus, you are strongly advised to abide strictly by the following prudential guides.

• Do not participate in cult initiation rites.
• Never travel outside your campus to participate in initiation rites. Students who die or get injured in such travels are abandoned.
• Do not make financial contributions to cult initiation rites.
• Do not participate in illegal or criminal activities like prostitution or armed robbery to raise fund for initiation rites.
• Do Not participate in torturing fellow students on the order of your fellow student in the name of initiation rites. The torture, “hardening”, “drilling” associated with initiation are so severe and grotesque that it is not surprising that many students die in the process. It is absolute madness to subject yourself to torture that is more painful than those meted to hardened criminals in prison cells.
• Do not obey the orders of another student to commit murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery in the name of initiation. Many students are known to have lost their lives in the process. Others have been arrested, maimed, expelled or disgraced for life.
• Listen to your conscience and hold on strongly to your faith and beliefs as a practicing Christian or Moslem. Refuse to perform rituals that involve drinking blood or swearing to idols.
• Say No to alcohol, drugs, and other intoxicants so that you can operate with your entire senses alert. As an addict to intoxicants, you become an easy tool for manipulation.