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By Ayo Kehinde
Fresh tensions have engulfed the University of Benin following the dramatic resignation of the Chairman of the University Committee for Renunciation of Cultism, Reconciliation, Reform, Rehabilitation and Interfaith (CR4IC), Reverend and University Chaplain, Egbenusi Osazee David, after a deadly sect-related attack reportedly claimed the life of a student near the institution’s main gate on Sunday evening.
The resignation, which has sparked anxiety in the university community, came amid allegations of administrative intimidation, institutional silence over the rise in cult activity and growing fears about the deteriorating security situation around campus.
In a detailed three-page resignation letter dated May 10, 2026 and addressed to the vice-chancellor of the university, the cleric formally resigned as president of CR4IC “with immediate effect.
He cited what he described as the university administration’s persistent failure to act on intelligence, security recommendations and reconciliation proposals aimed at countering sectarianism within the institution.
The chaplain said that since his appointment as chair of the anti-cult committee, he has consistently put forward proposals aimed at strengthening peacebuilding, discouraging cultism, promoting reconciliation and restoring sanity within the university community, but lamented that the recommendations have received little to no institutional support.
According to him, the committee gradually became ineffective because its recommendations were allegedly ignored by the authorities.
“A committee whose thoughtful recommendations are consistently left unresolved ceases to be an instrument of change and risks becoming a veneer of institutional seriousness in the face of a threat that demands genuine action,” he wrote.
The cleric revealed that the immediate incident that led to his resignation occurred on Sunday after he reportedly received video clips showing suspicious cult activities in the university environment.
He explained that, in line with his responsibilities as chair of the commission and in the interests of public safety, he forwarded the footage to the Vice Chancellor with a message urging urgent intervention and necessary action.
According to the letter, just two hours later, sporadic gunshots were heard in the Chapel Vicarage area of the campus, after which he received further clips showing a violent clash between sects in front of the university gate along the Benin-Lagos Expressway, where one person was reportedly killed.
The cleric said he immediately forwarded the new clips to the vice-chancellor as further evidence of the worsening security threat facing the institution.
However, he claimed that instead of mobilizing the security response or initiating emergency measures, the Vice Chancellor would react angrily and demand that the clips be deleted.
“Within minutes you telephoned me. The nature of that call was not commensurate with the severity of the security situation I had brought to your attention,” the letter reads.
The chaplain also claimed that the vice-chancellor issued repeated ultimatums, reducing the deadline from five minutes to three and then to two minutes, within which he would be ordered to delete the video material.
He also claimed that threats had been made to report him to Anglican authorities and to send university security personnel to remove him from the chapel rectory if he did not comply.
The cleric described the alleged threats as “unjustified, disproportionate and inconsistent” with the dignity of both offices, insisting that the actions amount to intimidation against the chaplaincy and an attack on the integrity of the church within the institution.
He said he refused to delete the footage because it represented crucial evidence relating to an incident of violence in which a life was lost.
“I must also state, in the utmost seriousness, that I have not deleted the aforementioned clips and will not. A human life was lost this evening. Whatever legal, investigative or disciplinary process such loss may properly trigger requires that evidence be preserved, not destroyed,” he said.
The resignation letter also highlighted what appears to be a deeper institutional crisis among the university administration and chaplaincy leadership.
The cleric insisted that the chaplaincy of the All Saints Chapel is not a department under the vice-rector and cannot be subject to administrative intimidation in matters involving conscience, pastoral responsibility and prophetic witness.
He further clarified that the Anglican bishop mentioned during the clash remains his ecclesiastical superior and not that of the university administration, adding that the bishop had already been informed of the incident and surrounding developments.
In resigning from the committee, the chaplain stressed that his decision was not motivated by fear or retreat, but by the belief that the committee could no longer function meaningfully where security intelligence received threats instead of a decisive institutional response.
“I do so not out of retreat, and not out of fear. I do so in the interests of the dignity of this sacred office, in fidelity to my pastoral vocation, and in the belief that a committee cannot serve its purpose when the very authority that established it responds to security intelligence with threats rather than actions,” he wrote.
Despite his resignation as president, the cleric reaffirmed the chapel’s commitment to continue serving students and speaking out against sectarian violence and injustice within the university environment.
The incident has since heightened fears among students, parents and residents of Benin City, particularly against the backdrop of recurring sectarian clashes and violent clashes involving rival groups in tertiary institutions across Edo State.
Students who spoke anonymously expressed concerns about security around the school gates and adjacent hostels, especially at night, while some called on security agencies and university authorities to urgently strengthen surveillance and intelligence gathering in and around the campus.
At the time of filing this report, the management of the University of Benin had not yet released an official statement in response to the allegations in the resignation letter.
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