Gift Hart, (20) and Raphael Green, who were recently arrested by the police in Rivers state have confessed to be a members of Dey- Bam confraternity, in Bonny Local Government Area of the state.
The two suspects noted that they intentionally joined the cult group to protect their mothers from physical assault from their lovers.
They made the revelation during an interrogation with the Police.
The duo were said to have met at a scaffolding workshop at Berger Road, Bonny, after completing their secondary school education, where they discovered they were facing the same problem at home.
Hart said he was born out of wedlock and was living with his mother and her live-in-lover who always assaulted her physically.
Raphael on the other hand said his mother was in a relationship with a man that was not his father and has had four children from him, in addition to three children he had from another man.
The two boys sought solace in a cult group when they were unable to stand the sight of their mothers being beaten.
Giving an account of how he was able to conquer his mother’s lover, Raphael, said, “ I went to speak with some of my old classmates at Bonny National Grammar School who were cultists. They offered to ‘blend’ me into their cult group, Dey-Bam, and I consented. Then, I was 18 years old.
“They took me to the Bonny Sand filled at night, where I was blindfolded, beaten and given a gin mixed with blood to drink. There, my journey into cultism began.
“Thereafter, I confronted my mother’s partner, I revealed my identity as a Dey-Bam cult member and threatened to hurt him if he touched my mother again. That was the last time I saw him in my mother’s house”.
Gift joined the cult group a year after Raphael.
Gift said he felt frustrated that he could not confront his mother’s partner, Biowuma, who he said was a cult leader in the Iceland cult group and was notorious for coordinating cult activities in the area.
He said, “ He was feared by all. So, I decided to join a rival cult group in order to match him.
“After my final West Africa Examination Council, WAEC paper, at age 17, I went to one Idamina in Green compound, a senior member of Dey-Bam cult in Bonny Local Government and requested to be onboarded. I was initiated at the Bonny Sand-filled.
“When I recovered from the initiation, I immediately confronted Biowuma, my mother’s love-in-lover. He called my bluff and warned me to stay out of his business.
“When the tension between my partner and I heightened, I left my mother’s house to live with Raphael and other members of the Dey-Bam group”.
But he reportedly returned when he received news that his mother’s lover had raised his hand on her.
He said, “I rushed to my mother’s house, attacked her lover with a stick and broke his skull in the process.”
Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, CP Tunji Disu, who confirmed the arrest of Hart and Raphael, expressed concern over the increasing relationship between dysfunctional homes and crime. He noted that, like Gift and Raphael, a significant number of criminals had a troubled childhood.
The Commissioner charged parents and guardians with the responsibility of moulding good behaviour in their children/wards at all stages of their development, noting that the home was the most significant agent of socialisation.
