The Oyo Commissioner of Police, Ayo Sonubi, has cautioned boys against joining cult groups, saying that the norm is that once they join, they already signed their death warrant.
Sonubi gave this caution while addressing boys, between the ages of 11 and 19 years, gathered for a five-day boot camp for boys organised by Hope For Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC) and other partners in Ibadan.
Sonubi, represented by Assistant Commissioner of Police Martins Bamigboye, gave the warning, pointing to the penchant for adolescents and young adults to take to cultism, drug abuse, and joining unlawful gatherings.
He noted that persons involved in such already put themselves on the track of untimely death.
He revealed that the several arrests of boys between the ages of 17 and 19 years for fraudulent activities in the state were alarming.
This, he said, could be attributed to broken homes and carefree parental upbringing.
He said, “If you join cult groups, be ready to die anytime as they kill one another at will. Don’t join cultism; it will shorten your life span. I want to implore you to be law-abiding. I want to warn you against joining an unlawful gathering or riot. Sponsors of protests are usually out of reach or out of the country, but they expose you to danger.”
The boot camp with the theme “Equipping Boys for the Digital and Sustainable Future” has, as participants, selected boys from government-owned secondary schools in Ibadan.
According to the convener of the camp, Mrs. Ibukunoluwa Otesile, the focus was to forge and refine boys to become responsible men.
Otesile, who is executive director of the Hope For Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC), said there was a need to give the same attention to the girl child as the boy child because of the increasing level of crimes committed by boys.
He noted that there are indigent, troubled, defiant, and delinquent boys in society who need to be equipped for leadership.
In like manner, various stakeholders at the opening of the camp agreed to the need for attention to be diverted to the boy child, as statistics show that there were more boys as out-of-school children, in foster homes, and engaged in substance abuse.
Speaking, head of cyber security, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan zonal office, Mr Ayo Anjorinz, who cited statistics from the Nigeria Correctional Service data, said out of the 85,000 offenders in correctional facilities, 83,000 are men.
He charged adolescents to be wary of bad influence and peer pressure, enjoining them to rather prioritise competence, integrity, excellence, and adherence to the rule of law.
On his part, Oyo State Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Professor Saliu Adelabu, said the boot camp for the adolescents aligned with the desire of the present administration to empower the younger generations to be responsible leaders in the future.
In his goodwill message, the vice chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, Mr. Seye Ojo, appealed to boys to shun peer pressure and crime but be good ambassadors of their families.
Earlier, the chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle Joshua Akinyemiju, represented by Senior Apostle K.O. Soremi, advised parents to be committed to the empowerment of their children by engaging in profitable self-development activities.
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