“Killing Improves Ranking”: Gang Life of Secret Cult Artisans in Lagos, Nigeria

This project investigates what motivates artisans (motor park touts, scavengers, street hawkers) working in the informal economy of Lagos state, Nigeria to join secret cults gangs. It unpacks how the gang life of artisanal cult members helps to understand the character of youth deviance and criminality in contemporary Africa. While cult gangs were formed and based in tertiary institutions, they have now expanded into artisanal street-based youth groups with demonstrable lethality that accounted for 1,286 deaths between 2020 and 2025. Of these, the South-South geopolitical zone recorded 750 deaths, followed by 491 fatalities in the South-West , with Lagos (dominated by rival cult gangs such as Aiye (Neo Black Movement), Eiye (Airlords), and Buccaneer) recording the second-highest number of fatalities in the country. Using an exploratory design, the study relies on in-depth interviews with artisanal street secret cult gang members, as well as confessional statements from arrested members, to demonstrate the social organization of violence and the precariousness of urban youth life in a contemporary African city. This project makes a unique contribution to global scholarship on street gangs in Africa particularly in Nigeria, by capturing the lived experiences of gang members and unpacking its social organization which are critical for designing containment strategies, and formulating policies that will contribute to the actualization of SDG goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). The project intersects with sociology, youth studies, peace and conflict studies, criminology and victimology