INTRODUCTION
On November 15, 1957 , during colonial
Nigerian time, a group of Nigerian
policemen from the Criminal and
Investigation Department (CID) of Northern
Nigeria and Lagos surreptitiously
descended on Abakaliki, Eastern Nigeria ,
posing as ordinary people. They were
trying to find out about the murder of one
lady called Nwamgbo Igbeagu, the first
among more than one-hundred wives of
one prominent , local chief, 64-year-old
Nwiboko Obodo. Originally the key-holder
of monies kept in hundreds of safes in
Obodo's care by various people in the
society, Nwamgbo had not only aroused the
suspicion of her husband when some of the
money got stolen, but was also suspect
when Obodo's son Sunday by another
woman died mysteriously. A tribunal under
the superintendence of Nwiboki found
Nwamgbo guilty. However, the traditional
executioners, unwilling to carry out the
capital punishment because "We cannot
take the life of our dear chief", were
relieved by Obodo himself, who strangled
his own wife with a bicycle chain.
It was this heinous act - reported by
Nwamgbo's mother who had reported her
daughter to be missing - that brought the
CID into Abakaliki six-months later, with one
Mr. Anoruo posing to Obodo as a medicine-
man able to prevent the police from
arresting Obodo.
On February 28, 1958 , Anoruo arrested
Obodo and seven members of what turned
out to be the Odozi Obodo Society. It turned
out that Nwaegbo's murder was the mere
tip of an ice-berg: flaunting several "juju
houses", the Odozi Obodo Society had
terrorized Abakaliki and the environs for
nine years, allegedly killing as many as 400
people in the guise of exacting punishment
for sundry evil deeds of those people.
Nwobiko's Odozi Obodo Society was
allegedly the "watchdogs" of Abakiliki, to
"safeguard [its] peace and morals. It
punished severely any person who stole,
committed adultery or was guilty of any
anti-social activities." Chief Obodo had
naturally became rich in the process.
A few months after their arrest, the
criminals were sentenced to death by
hanging, and after exhausting their appeals,
were hanged by their necks until their
death in about June 1959.
So ended one phase of the Odozi Obodo
Society, until these latest murderous
discoveries of the Ogwugwu Shrines of
Okija.
CORPSES EVERYWHERE AT THE SHRINES AT
OKIJA
I shall spare the reader the gory details, but
the brief sketch is as follows: on August 5,
2004, Nigerians woke up to the horrid news
that the Nigerian Police had recovered as
many as 20 human skulls, 50 corpses, some
still fresh and headless and in their coffins.
Thirty suspects were also arrested including
the priests of two of the shrines -
Ogwugwu Isiula and Ogwugwu Akpu,
[Other shrines are Ogwugwu Mmili,
Ogwugwu Apunama, Ogwugwu Ahaya Afa,
Ogwugwu Idigo and Ogwugwu Idimgo in
various hamlets strewn around Abakaliki.]
The 80-man-strong police operation led by
the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) in the state, CSP Mr. Gabriel
Haruna and the state commissioner of
police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu. The case blew
open at the specific instance of a modern-
day Anoruo, but this time not a policeman
but a Hare Krishna convert posing as a
medicine-man: Chukwumezie Igwe of
Umuhu Village , Okija.
May God bless him and protect him. [Amen.]
THE OTHER SIDE – ARGUMENT FOR
TRADITIONAL RELIGION
The general reaction of people in Nigeria
and the world who have read the Okija
story and seen the pictures has been one of
profound horror. For example, the Senate
President, Adolphus Wabara, himself of
Eastern Igbo stock, has endorsed the raid
on Okija shrines asking Ndigbo to rise
against shrine worshiping. Nevertheless,
there have also been some talk of defence
of traditional religion, the most prominent
(and shocking to this writer) being from
one ex-Colonel Chief Joseph Oseloka G.
Achuzia, Secretary-General of the pan-Igbo
socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze. Hopefully
speaking for himself and not for the
respectable group, Achuzia, of Western Igbo
stock, dismissed the police raid as
“ridiculous” and stating that “worshipping
at shrines is not a new thing in Nigeria .”
According to newspaper reports, Achuzia [a
former Biafran military commander with
the aliases “ Hannibal ” and “Air Raid” for
exploits in the Midwest and later Okigwe
inside Biafra ] stated as follows:
QUOTE
He said the issue portrayed the Igbo as
cannibals, alleging that the police were out
to rubbish the Igbo.
"Unless the police have no other job to do,
then they can go on making further
discoveries on things that are in
consonance with ancient history.
Everybody in Igboland and Nigeria knows
about the existence of shrines
everywhere. Go to Hausaland, go to
Yorubaland, go to every part of Nigeria ,
there exists one shrine or another. These
things are part of Nigerian tradition. So,
unmasking one in Ihiala is not new. These
skulls have been there long ago, and I do
not see anything new about it except that
the police want to portray the Igbo as
cannibals. But this is not what the police
should be involved in.
He said the issue portrayed the Igbo as
cannibals, alleging that the police were out
to rubbish the Igbo.
"Unless the police have no other job to do,
then they can go on making further
discoveries on things that are in
consonance with ancient history.
Everybody in Igboland and Nigeria knows
about the existence of shrines
everywhere. Go to Hausaland, go to
Yorubaland, go to every part of Nigeria ,
there exists one shrine or another. These
things are part of Nigerian tradition. So,
unmasking one in Ihiala is not new. These
skulls have been there long ago, and I do
not see anything new about it except that
the police want to portray the Igbo as
cannibals. But this is not what the police
should be involved in.
UNQUOTE
At one level of analysis, Achuzia speaks for
many people: on the one hand, the
traditionalists, who see nothing wrong with
swift justice rendered within traditional
religion, and on the other hand, the
genuinely non-pagan adherents of different
faiths, who see the occasion as an
opportunity to blow the lead off the
hypocrisy which is practiced by the
syncretic adherents of their own religion.
The latter worship Allah on Friday and Jesus
Christ on Sunday, and then crawl to the
caves of Ogwugwu Isiala and other favored
shrines on other days to swear oaths and
drink hemlock potions before babbling
“dibias” and “babalawos.”
At another level, he is wrong: whatever we
wish to say, in modern days, tradition has
its limits.
THE LIMITS OF TRADITION – A PERSONAL
VIEW
Much as I respect many aspects of tradition
and local mores, particularly as they relate
with respect for fellow men, there MUST be
a limit, and that limit stops at LEGAL and
CAPITAL issues: matters of LAW and matters
of DEATH. These two aspects are inter-
twined, actually.
With respect to LAW, yes, I am in support of
CUSTOMARY LAW as agreed to be locally
enforced by the participants, provided the
usual steps of appraising the defendant of
his alleged crime, confronting him with his
accusers, giving him or her an opportunity
to defend himself or herself, and exerting
predictable and appropriate - not cruel,
disproportionately unusual and capricious
punishment. The caveats however must be
as follows:
(1) it must not include capital punishment;
that must be left to the CONSENSUALLY
AGREED LAW OF THE LAND; is that not why
we are vexed about Sharia (and the
amputation of hands) and its threats of
capital punishment for adultery and the
like?
(2) every case, particularly those involving
capital punishment, must be APPEALABLE to
a higher court - and again particularly those
involving capital punishment - including to
the highest court of the land: the Supreme
Court, unless it declines to hear the case.
OF DEITIES AND HUMAN BEINGS
There are many reasons for these caveats:
All these practices that involve both DEITIES
and HUMAN BEINGS (as dibias and
babalawos, etc.) are fraught with DANGERS
of HUMAN FRAILTIES and subject to abuse.
Like the modern polygraph test, it depends
on who is applying a legal test and to who it
is being applied. Suppose the potion drinker
is so frightened that he dies of a heart
attack contemplating a wrong outcome,
even if he is innocent? Suppose the "dibia"
favors one of the two "contestants" and
unrighteously mixes different potions,
killing the innocent one? Suppose even the
questions asked are wrongly framed - and
hence wrongly answered to?
There can be so many "supposes, "
So, the greatest “crimes” against humanity
here are three-fold:
(1) to the victims, while they were living.
Justice could have been miscarried.
(2) to the dead victims: if their corpses are
so mistreated by being exposed to the
elements and the like, then justice to the
dead is ALWAYS miscarried. If in fact the
tradition of a particular place is not to bury
such "bad" people in their forests, then who
knows whether there are some more
"tolerant" places in Nigeria or elsewhere
who might accept to bury these bodies with
dignity? After all, the world now extends
beyond Okija.
(3) to those who do not come from this
area, but who, with the world being told
that such terrible things are happening in "
NIGERIA ", assign all of Nigeria to such
barbarous deeds. Yes, I consider them
barbarous, no matter what anybody says,
even if they don’t agree, which they have
every right not to.
Here is the point: If Okija, or Anambra State,
or Igboland were one country of its own -
let us call it, for the sake of argument
"Biafra" - and such barbarous acts were
carried out, then it would be announced to
the world that "Thousands of headless,
unburied corpses were found in shrines at
Okija, Biafra" . Achuzia and the rest of his
co-defendants of tradition could then
defend the practice as being the ridder of
evils in their country. Fine. But for me to be
in the same COUNTRY where such
barbarous acts are being carried, and to
have them hailed when I so
FUNDAMENTALLY disagree with them, is
violent to every instinct in me. I oppose it
with tremendous vehemence. It is with that
same feeling that I oppose not Sharia but
Sharia’s imposition of deadly punishment to
victims in Nigeria .
In the very recent and apt words of Achuzia
himself, “We are either one country – or no
country.” And to amplify his statement: “We
are either one country – or many
countries.”
EPILOGUE
I hope and I trust that full justice will be
carried out against all of those who
engaged in murderous acts in Okija and
environs, like was done to those in the
Odozi Obodo Society. One hopes that the
major crime-busting witness – Maazi
Chukwumezie Igwe of Umuhu Village – will
be adequately protected to give
outstanding testimony against any
perpetrators, although with Chief Bola Ige’s
assassination trial and the ongoing comical
saga of the Ibori identification trial, our
justice system is once again on trial. The
police should not rush to destroy evidence
of crime, nor allow anybody to “sanitize”
the scenes.
The whole world is watching - again.
I rest my case.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408050319.html
Police Recover 20 Human Skulls, 1 Corpse in
Shrines
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408050345.html
Raid On Shrines: Police Recover 50 Corpses,
20 Skulls
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408050648.html
Nigeria: Police Arrest Witchdoctors After
Finding 50 Mutilated Bodies in 'Evil Forest'
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408060030.html
Police Uncover 10 Fresh Shrines, Ohanaeze
Scribe Slams Raid
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408060397.html
Anambra: 4 Fresh Bodies, 10 More Skulls
Found Police to Raid Other Shrines Today As
Villagers Flee
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408090094.html
Wabara Backs Okija Shrine Raid - IG Sends
More Policemen
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408090191.html
Raids On Okija Shrines: How Police
Uncovered the Unholy Acts
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408090347.html
More Corpses Recovered - It's a Hideout for
Fraudsters
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408090648.html
The Shock Finds at Okija
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408090898.html
Okija Horror Shrines: 10 Registers of Victims
Found
http://allafrica.com/
stories/200408080036.html
Horror Shrines: End of the Road for God of
Okija?
http://nigerianmuse.com/fortherecord/?
u=AbatiOhanezeOkija.htm
Ohaneze And The Shrine At Okija
Reuben Abati [Guardian, Sunday, August 8,
2004 ]
www.dawodu.com/aluko93.htm

And the point is?

shocking revelation!!!

Oduduwa human shrines
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-386200.0.html

okija has a long--------standing reputation in juju considering the calibre of men patronising the shrine.

@POSTER
You have been in Nairaland since july last year, yet you do not know that topics relating to Okija has been discussed more than the entire posts you have so far written.
Does it mean you have lost your sense of seeing or you are just clamouring for recognition?.
We need curent trends on politics section.

~Bluetooth:

okija has a long--------standing reputation in juju considering the calibre of men patronising the shrine.

The entire Yoruba has a longstanding history of juju. Ogbono, gbomogbomo and those Ogun house member naked photos in shrines are just few examples.

can you prove to me that the entire yoruba are juju worshippers? but i can tell you that no matter how religious an igbo man can be,he still has a small corner in his bedroom as a shrine and must travel at the end of the year to make sacrifices.

@OP
Waste of time. if i need a lecture on Okija shrine, i will go to Chris Ngige or Chris Uba.

~Bluetooth:

can you prove to me that the entire yoruba are juju worshippers? but i can tell you that no matter how religious an igbo man can be,he still has a small corner in his bedroom as a shrine and must travel at the end of the year to make sacrifices.

Stop talking like a baboon in heat! There are many of us who know that ALL juju claims are fraudulent! Zombie!

No shrine in any universe has as much power as a piece of stone with some velocity.

as usual,in support of biafra brotherhood.who cares if juju is fraudulent or not but for the record,okija is an igbo shrine with many igbo fellowers.

~Bluetooth:

as usual,in support of biafra brotherhood.who cares if juju is fraudulent or not but for the record,okija is an igbo shrine with many igbo fellowers.

Nope, I'm completely against Okija shrine, and any and all shrines for that matter.

you cannot speak for the whole igbo tribe but anyways i dont believe in black magic either;i keeping getting annoyed with the constitution for giving juju worshippers freedom of religion and to sacrifice human lives for their idols

^ which constitution is that

SEFAGO:

^ which constitution is that

the same constitution that gives room for freedom of religion and forgot that an evil traditional religion will make mockery of it in the long run

~Bluetooth:

can you prove to me that the entire yoruba are juju worshippers? but i can tell you that no matter how religious an igbo man can be,he still has a small corner in his bedroom as a shrine and must travel at the end of the year to make sacrifices.

Yes. I can proooooooooove it. The fact that all your pastors, bishops, imams, politicians, students and business men do juju to survive, to the extent that they exported juju to the carribeans is a sure proof. Now tell me, what is Ogun, sango, gbomogbomo, ogboni? Tell me about Jesu of Oyingbo, about TB Joshua, about Guru maharaji, about Adeboye and the heretic accusation from Bakare. Tell me about Solarin and Soyinka (self-confessed idol worshippers), tell me about Ifa. Tell me about Yoruba women giving birth to tortoises and being pregnant for 7 years. Tell me about the kidnappers den in Osun and Ogun. Tell me about the posts I have shown here detailing Yoruba penchant for voodoo. Tell me more. Bloody illiterate

~Bluetooth:

you cannot speak for the whole igbo tribe  but anyways i dont believe in black magic either;i keeping getting annoyed with the constitution for giving juju worshippers freedom of religion and to sacrifice human lives for their idols

Murder, under any nonsensical guise, is still murder!

The Nigerian constitution does not accommodate any useless culture or tradition trash when it comes to murder.