Nigeria has been held hostage by aggressive student gangs since the 1980's and the problem seemed not to be going away. New intelligence measures have made campuses a bit safer.
It is common in America to see college students bombarded with offers to Fraternities and groups on the first day of the new year. These recruitment booths can be found all over campus. Nigeria also has this tradition, except the groups are not harmless fraternities; and Greek Week is not minimal instances of hazing.
When someone is initiated, they are traditionally beaten to the ground with their assailant hitting them below the head to prevent noticeable bruises. They must then stand up and be beaten to the ground over and over again.
“You have to take some concoctions and rituals. People die - those are the weak ones,” said Mr Chege. The concoctions are a mixture of drugs, alcohol and blood drawn from an animal.
Nigerian college students are targeted by local "cults" that intimidate teachers into giving students good grades using methods of violence as well as what some consider "black magic". These cults have also demonstrated some gang like behavior by breaking off into factions and targeting one another as well. One
previous cult member confessed to killing around 9 students and kidnapping teachers to force them to give fellow members good grades.
Nigeria's campuses, over 100, are host to four main cults; the Pyrates, the Black Eyes, the Black Axe, and the Mafia. The four groups battle for supremacy on the campus, each wanting to assure their ideals are spread.
The Pyrates, or the Pyrates Confraternity, was founded in 1952 by Wole Soyinka, a noble prize winner for literature. The group was harmless enough, and focused on forming a group of with similar interests much like any American fraternity. However as more groups formed Nigerian military leaders recruited groups to fight against the "liberal" pro-democracy groups forming on college campuses. The Confraternities were given money, weapons, and instructions to stop idealist professors and students. This new mission, which started in the 1980's, has put a scar on the face of Nigeria.
The Pyrates Confraternity has tried to move past this image, and has spread to Africa, Europe, Asia, America and Canada, where they have attempted to be a positive influence on the local communities. The leaders of the Pryates and their child group, the Buccaneers, have urged that the confraternities get together to promote peace rather than violence and eradicate the need for the violent gangs that have formed.
The Pyrates
name and describe these gangs as such:
The Black Axe confraternity, Eiye Confraternity, Mafia Confraternity, Vikings, Black Cats, Daughters of Jezebel, Amazons, Black Beret, Burkina Faso, Vipers, Maphites and others because they have degenerated into violent gangs, whose main reason for existing was to terrorize campuses in mindless orgies of destruction and rape often fuelled by alcohol, sex, money and drugs. Today, the impacts of these violent gangs are being felt in the political arena and they are increasingly available to be hired by politicians with scores to settle.
These politicians are part of the problem perpetuating the violence, especially in River State. The use of gangs to win political power has become an integrated part in the process. Now the relationship is even symbiotic as gang members are rewarded with power of their own bringing gang members into the fold as a sub political faction. For example, the Vikings Confraternity has 11 alumni as River State House of Assembly members. Despite this fact politicians have instituted laws as well as rehabilitation centers to attempt to crack down on the crime. The move has been seen as nominal at best.
River State college officials have been fighting back though and established an intelligence network. The network is comprised of around 200 security officers, student informants, and "covert surveillance." Their efforts assured that the campus was gunshot free last year. While the violence has not stopped, simply moved to the street, having a safe campus for the first time in a decade is seen as quite an accomplishment.
