Secondary School Student Bags 5-Year Jail Term

A secondary student identified as Emmanuel Itoro Thomas has been sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in cultism.

Thomas, 23, was sentenced on Thursday at the state high court sitting in Uyo by Justice Okon.

The court established that the convict, a student of Community Secondary School, Mbaise, in Imo State and an indigene of Uruk Uso in Obot Akara Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, belonged to an unlawful society known as, “Red Skin Secret Cult Confraternity.”

Delivering his judgment, Justice Okon held that Thomas contravened the provision of Section 1 sub-section 2 of the Cultism, Offensive Weapons and Violent Behaviour Prohibition Law 2004 of Akwa Ibom State.

"Any person who is a member of a cult whether or not, he is in possession of an offensive weapon, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years without an option of fine," the justice said.

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“It is a trite law that where a confessional statement of an accused is tendered in evidence without any objection, the statement will be deemed to have been made voluntarily and its content will be deemed to be true with no amount of subsequent argument against it, vitiating its admissibility.”

Thomas had confessed that he joined the cult in 2019 because of the problem his mother had with her landlady.

He further confessed that he was initiated on February 29, 2019 in Ematan Street, off Eka Street, Uyo by one General, who is now at large.

The Court held that the prosecution from the State Ministry of Justice has proven its case beyond reasonable doubts and accordingly, sentenced the accused to five years in prison without an option of fine.