News reports have revealed that no fewer than 850 Ondo youths have renounced their cult membership after drinking a liquid substance at the palace of the Deji of Akure, Oba

Daily Post reports that the monarch and elders of the town had become concerned with the incessant clashes between rival cult groups which had ultimately led to the killing of many youths in the community in the recent times.

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A source disclosed that the elders of the town decided to tackle the problem traditionally, explaining that drinking the water was like taking an oath of renouncement.

According to the source whose identity has been withheld, there was an announcement that those who were members of cult groups were to go and renounce their membership at the Deji’s palace in Akure.

He said, “The palace adopted that system to curb the killings and violence among the cult groups, many of them have been going to the palace to drink the ‘water’ and renounce membership, they will also drop their weapons. If after drinking the water, the person goes back to cultism, he will die mysteriously.

“You can see that since the traditional exercise started, you hardly hear of killings or fighting as a result of cult activities, about 850 of them have done it and their activities have drastically reduced.”

The source added that those who had refused the traditional cleansing, left town.

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The Chief Press Secretary to the Deji, Mr Michael Adeyeye, while confirming the development, said that the exercise began in June and was aimed at eradicating the illegal activities of the cultists.

Adeyeye explained that a traditional right was performed at the palace on those who choose to renounce cultism.