When it came to campus Cult wars, I don't think there was any campus as rugged and violent as ESUT in the whole of Nigeria, from the late 90s to the early 2000s. ESUT was bloody!
In Enugu back then, The 22/BB (Black Beret) also known as Apache Boys were fighting for dominance on campus, against their rivals, Black Axe.
Things took a more violent turn when Apache boys fell Luke a Black Axe member unprovoked, who happened to be a final year student of engineering in Esut somewhere along GRA.
The Black Axe in revenge, went to look for a guy called Chibuzor at home. When they didn't see him, they fell his mother. A very unforgivable mistake, because there is an unwritten cult rule where you don't go after the loved ones of a cultist.
This triggered a series of violent clashes and somewhere in between, Bombo, a Black Axe member, was rising through the ranks to become one of the most dreaded cultists a Nigerian campus had ever produced.
The name Bombo struck terror and fear in Enugu for those who were in Enugu in the 90s.
He was a student of Engineering/hit man/ Assassin. Also the South/East co-ordinator of the AYEs. So, his influence wasn't just in Enugu per say.
A meeting was organized for peace between the 22 boys and Black Axe. It was reported that Bombo said in the meeting "highest another person mama go die".
This triggered the 22 boys led by their powerful but quite leader, Agbassi who happened to be studying marketing.
A few days later, Bombo was shot 9 times in front of the Law Faculty. Not just that, 20 members of the Black Axe confraternity were also unalived that very day by the Apache boys in a very coordinated and precise attack.
The 22/Aye war of 1999, ESUT campus, was so bloody that CNN even had to carry the news.
In all of this, I can tell you that no civilian was lost, save for the life of Chibuzor's mum and that's why the war turned out bloody in the first place. Back then, frat boys never oppressed non frat boys because their brothers would definitely punish them if they heard about it.
Up till now, there has not been another campus war that has been more bloody and violent than ESUT back in the days.
©Kosi Ugo.
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