• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Nigerian Student Confraternities: Secret Societies Turned Criminal Syndicates

James_H

And I like to roam the land
Joined
May 18, 2002
Messages
7,626
Since the formation in the 1950s of the Pyrate Confraternity (later the National Association of Seadogs), university confraternities have flourished in Nigeria. These are secret student social societies, originally along the lines of the Skull and Bones society or the Bullingdon club. However they rapidly adapted into criminal gangs, who have been blamed for hundreds of murders. They are also alleged to operate as cults, with their members referred to as 'cultists' in the media. Some incorporate aspects of vodun in their rituals.

From Wikipedia:

During the first weeks of the school year, confraternity alumni and members swarm campuses recruiting new members. Initiation ceremonies normally involve severe beatings, in order to test their endurance, as well as ingestion of a liquid mixed with blood. Male initiates may sometimes be required to pass an additional hurdle before becoming full members, including raping a popular female student or a female member of the university staff. Among the all-female Jezebels or Amazons, prospective members may be required to undergo six rounds of rough sexual intercourse or fight with against a group of women or against a much stronger man
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confraternities_in_Nigeria
 
Mentioning the Skull and Bones society or the Bullingdon Club in the same breath as that batch of pathologies is like comparing the Girl Guides to the NKVD.

Euw.

maximus otter
 
Mentioning the Skull and Bones society or the Bullingdon Club in the same breath as that batch of pathologies is like comparing the Girl Guides to the NKVD.

Euw.

maximus otter


Just read a great Fantasy/Horror novel, The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, about Skull & Bones and other Yale Societies practicing magic. The Ninth House is another Society which keeps an eye on them. It's sort of a secret history, involves a serial killer and a centuries old mystery.
 
Mentioning the Skull and Bones society or the Bullingdon Club in the same breath as that batch of pathologies is like comparing the Girl Guides to the NKVD.

Euw.

maximus otter
They started out as a similar thing, then within a few years went massively off the rails. I have no idea about Nigerian culture or society so I don't know why that would happen.
 
Of the British people I know who have been to Nigeria on business, all of them have had to hire a driver/bodyguard.
All reported a society where there were strict social codes, but where hospitality was abundant and most people were generally friendly and helpful.

The US State Department issues the following advice:

"Country Summary: Violent crime – such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, and rape – is common throughout the country. Exercise extreme caution throughout the country due to the threat of indiscriminate violence."

https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...traveladvisories/nigeria-travel-advisory.html

London has a lot of Nigerians, quarter of a million and counting.
Poverty is a reason they come here, but violence could be a factor also?

Perhaps the Biafran war brutalised a generation and set a trend?

If there are any Nigerians reading this would value your input.
 
The real problem with Nigeria is corruption in its police force: Nigeria: Police Most Corrupt Institution in Nigeria

How can you ever hope to stop crime if the organization tasked with ending crime is the most corrupt institution in the country? The answer? Work with other countries to set up a new police force. Arrest the old police force. Start again.
 
The real problem with Nigeria is corruption in its police force: Nigeria: Police Most Corrupt Institution in Nigeria

How can you ever hope to stop crime if the organization tasked with ending crime is the most corrupt institution in the country? The answer? Work with other countries to set up a new police force. Arrest the old police force. Start again.
Hong Kong began a very successful anti corruption program in the 1970s under governor Murray MacLehose, which greatly reduced police corruption (bent coppers included the likes of Peter Godber who successfully escaped to Britain before being extradited again and Lui Lok, subject of several movies) so it is possible.
 
Back
Top