No fewer than 850 members of various secret cult groups have renounced cultism after drinking a liquid substance at the palace of the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo.
It was gathered that the monarch and elders of the town were not happy with the incessant clashes of rival cult groups which had led to the killing of many youths in the community in the recent times.
According to a source, the elders of the town, who were worried about the development adopted a traditional means to tackle the problem. He explained that drinking the water was like taking an oath of renouncement.
The source said there was an announcement earlier that all those who were members of cult groups should go and renounce their membership at the Deji’s palace in Akure .
It said, “The palace adopted that system to curb the killings and violence among the cult groups, many of them have been going to the palace to drink the ‘water’ and renounce membership, they will also drop their weapons. If after drinking the water, the person goes back to cultism, he will die mysteriously.
“You can see that since the traditional exercise started, you hardly hear of killings or fighting as a result of cult activities, about 850 of them have done it and their activities have drastically reduced.”
The source noted that those that were not ready for the traditional cleansing had left the town.
The Chief Press Secretary to the the Deji, Mr. Michael Adeyeye, who confirmed the development said the exercise had started since three months ago and it was aimed at eradicating the illegal activities of the cultists.
He explained that a traditional right was performed at the palace on those who were ready to renounce cultism.
