40 Youths Renounce Cult Membership in Cross River Community

About 40 youths in Abini Community, Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State, have renounced their membership of the Vikings, Klans and Axemen cult groups, pledging instead to live peaceful, law-abiding lives.

The youths committed on August 26, 2026, during a sensitisation and engagement programme organised by the Cross River State Police Command in collaboration with the Abini Elites Association, made up of the Clan Head and Chiefs of Abini Community, alongside the LauraHope Foundation.

The programme centred on the dangers of cultism, drug abuse, illegal possession of firearms and other social vices affecting young people in the area.

Speaking at the event on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, CP Ajo-Geoffrey Ordue, the Divisional Police Officer of Yakurr Division, CSP Innocent Ayabotu, called on the youths to turn away from crime.

"Our engagement is focused on the dangers of cultism, drug abuse, unlawful possession of firearms and other social vices. I want to urge youths to reject criminality and become agents of peace and development in their community," he said.

Confirming the development in a statement issued Monday in Calabar, Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Eitokpah, said the initiative formed part of the Command's proactive, community-based crime prevention strategy under CP Ordue's leadership.

The Police Commissioner said the outcome reflected the Command's broader approach to crime prevention, intelligence gathering and early intervention aimed at tackling the root causes of youth recruitment into criminal networks, noting that it aligns with an intelligence-led, community-oriented policing framework.

CP Ordue commended the traditional rulers, community leaders, the LauraHope Foundation and the youths themselves for their cooperation, stressing that sustainable security depends on shared responsibility between the police, communities and other stakeholders.

He assured residents that the Command would sustain its combination of intelligence-led enforcement and preventive interventions to protect vulnerable youths and preserve peace across the state.

"We will continue to combine intelligence-led enforcement with preventive interventions, strategic community engagement and partnership-driven policies to sensitise our youths to reject cultism and other forms of criminality, while encouraging them to become positive agents of peace and development within their community," the Commissioner added.