No fewer than four ex-cult leaders at the weekend denounced their membership following a crusade organised by an anti-cult group, Thunderbolt Rescue Mission at the University of Calabar as part of its advocacy against cultism and sundry crimes in the academic institutions across Nigeria.
They were said to have been touched by the message of the crusade titled, “Come Back” which centered on losses associated with cultism.
In his ministration at the 2-day crusade, the President and Founder, Vision Savers Global Outreach, an anti-cult organization, Pst Emmanuel Obasi urged the students to ignore undue pressure to join any secret cult, warning that it leads to self-destruction and can pose a threat to their future.
The cleric, an ex-cult leader revealed that cultists will attempt to lure their soft targets with enticing words, advising the youths to ignore such pressure as cultism remains a profitless venture.
“You saw the expression on the faces of the students. They are shocked that a cultist can denounce. Those intending to join, their eyes were opened to see that there is nothing in cultism.
“The cultists have an evil way of packaging cultism to be a good thing. But with our ministration, they have been able to know the dangers of cultism.
“Anyone who joins after our campaign here, especially those that attended the crusade is doing so out of personal volition.
“We have also empowered them to withstand the pressure of going back again. They have been taught how to live above fear and threat. We have embedded them with capacity to do that” he told ABN TV.
He announced that the campaign is targeting other higher institutions in the South particularly Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers and Uyo.
Pst Obasi however said technical and financial constraints have remained topmost challenges in the mission.
He therefore called on individuals, groups and corporate organizations to partner with the groups in its efforts to lend support to bring to the barest minimum cultism and related activities in our environment.