CONTRIBUTION OF THE CHURCH IN MITIGATING INCESSANT CULT CLASH AMONG YOUTH IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This abstract examines the major role played by churches in Awka, Anambra State, in addressing the escalating issue of youth cult clashes. Churches in the community actively engage in moral education, counseling, and outreach initiatives aimed at steering young people away from involvement in cult activities. By promoting values of peace, unity, and ethical conduct, churches contribute significantly to reducing violence and fostering a safer environment. This study will be of significant value relevant to parents or guardians, policy makers, stakeholders involved in maintaining law and order and religious institutions in Nigeria. It will be able to address the downside effects of cultism on the society at large and also, dispel the erroneous ideas among youths that there are benefits of cultism, which is targeted at enticing and luring innocent non-members. The geographical scope of this research work revolves around Awka town. The study will center on cultism as an organized violent group in Awka. Here, relevant instances and inferences would be drawn from the Church or Christianity as a social organization capable of ameliorating this dysfunctional trend. The data collected in this research are both from primary and secondary sources, such as previous works of foreign and local authors who have written on the relevant issues in journals, books of reading, internet documentaries and lecture notes. The primary sources include both participant and non-participant methods of observation.