Lagos — Speaks of his initiation as he raises anxiety over his possible poisoning for revealing so much about the campus cult

Like every other Nigerian Child, Cookey Hilkiah's ambition was not only to go to school but to get out of it and acquire the highest university degree possible.

But like a pack of cards, the dream, in one stroke, collapsed when the 24-year old 300-level Geography Student of the University of Port Harcourt was arrested in Lagos by the police in company of a 27-year old 400-level medical student of the same university, Chibuzo Nwankwo, for allegedly snatching a vehicle, belonging to a student at the University of Lagos last September 10.

The Opobo, River State-born Hilkiah, who was frustrated into reading Geography after he was unable to secure admission to read medicine, however, denied that they were armed robbers even though a gun was recovered from them on arrest. He has stoutly argued that they were members of the Neo Black Movement, otherwise referred to as Aye, a campus cult, and that they were in Lagos to initiate new members across higher institutions in the state.

Hilkiah, who gained admission into the university at the age of 21, contrary to expectation, found campus life remarkably different from that in the city of Port Harcourt, where he was born and brought up.

Getting used to the life, he said, was not only interesting but challenging. He coped favourably well with lectures and assignments. And as one, who was well funded by his parents to lack nothing, he made friends right, left and centre. They included those he was meeting for the first in life and others he had always known in the River State capital.

That way, an unamed 'big brother' in campus, as he referred to him, got closer to the young Hilkiah. Of course, I embraced his friendship, looking up to him for guidance and protection in all areas," he said.

But it turned out the beginning of a drastic change in his life. One day, he said, the 'big brother' invited him to his friend's birthday party in the PortHarcourt city.

"Initially, I wanted to turn down the invitation, but being a caring brother, I thought it would be unwise to refuse the invitation. He even told me I would be meeting big guys on campus and in the city, to further arouse my interest in the party.

"At about 9pm on the said day, we left in his car to town, but when he turned from the main road into a bush path, I became curious and wanted to know why we were going into the bush instead of a party in the city as he said. He told me not to bother since I was in safe hands.

"After about 30 minutes drive into the bush path, he stopped the car and asked me to follow him. That was when it fully dawned on me that I was in hot soup, but could not do much to save myself because we were five in the car.

"We went into the bush, where we met some other big guys and some few visibly shaken ones, who were crying for help that would not come.

"I was asked to stripe naked and some incisions were made on me and others. We were asked to drink the concoction made of our blood and some other substances, which I suspected included coconut water.

"Obvious of the fact that some of us might expose them, we were asked to swear to an oath of allegiance that we would never tell anybody what transpired that night, not even our parents or close friends and that failure would bring an end to our lives on earth", he spoke of how he became a cult member and his initiation.

Arrested with Nwankwo in Lagos for conniving with some students cult members of the University of Lagos to beat, and stripe a student of the institution naked before forcefully taking away the student's BMW car, Hilkiah tried to impress it on anyone who cares: "I am neither a thief nor an armed robber. I came to Lagos for a week long initiation ceremony of students in the old Western states' higher institutions. On Monday, September 9, 2002, we went to Yaba Technology, Yaba, Lagos, where about 13 students were initiated into the Neo Black Movement, otherwise known as Aye.

"We were to initiate members from UNILAG, Lagos State University, and other higher institutions in Lagos State and its environs when the leader of Aye in UNILAG, simply called Olatunde, Alias Ultimate Scorpion, came and informed us that it would no longer hold as stipulated for some reasons, he said, had jeopardised the ceremony.

"I was then informed of a new plan my friend and I have to execute before leaving for the University of Benin, where the proper initiation for the whole Southern states' institutions was slated on the day we were arrested".

Hilkiah said his job on that Tuesday night they were arrested was to keep an eagle eye on a student, who according to Aye members on the campus, was still going out with girls and partying after publicly denouncing his membership of the cult in church.

He said he was directed to monitor his movement so as to carry out a deadly action on the student, Enilari Oladipupo.

He further confessed that one Kelvin, a student of the institution, and member of the Cult, and Ultimate Scorpion later apprehended Oladipupo, dragged him into a bush, where he was striped naked, beaten and tied to a pole before driving away in his car to where him and Chibuzo were watching with keen interest to hand them the keys.

"We were given the car as our share of the deal and asked to drive to Benin for the initiation ceremony. It was on our way to the city that the car suddenly developed some problems and we were eventually arrested", Hilkiah narrated.

The visibly shaken young man was scared of possibly being poisoned for exposing the cult and for giving out the name of the Aye president but was hopeful that the Almighty God would protect him.

He begged the reporter to get across to his elder sister, who, he said, was a medical doctor at a private clinic in the Agege area of Lagos, to inform his other family members in Port Harcourt, River State, of his ordeal, tears dripping down his cheeks in regret.