NIGERIA: EKITI ASSEMBLY APPROVES DEATH PENALTY FOR CULTISTS

A bill seeking to prohibit the activities of secret cults scaled third reading at the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
The substance of the bill, which is yet to be signed into law by the governor, is the prescription of death penalty for those found guilty of breaching the law in that regard.
Those aiding and abetting cultism would also bag life imprisonment if found guilty. The new provision was an amendment to the law against cultism, enacted by Ayo Fayose during his first tenure as governor of the state.
The law had provided a seven-year imprisonment for anyone convicted of cult activities, whereas those aiding and abetting the act were to be imprisoned for five years.
The bill titled, ‘Secret Cult (Abolition and Prohibition) [Amendment] Bill, 2017,’ gained the lawmakers attention following increase in cult activities at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti which led to the killing of students recently.