By: ORI MARTINS

Thursday, May 31, 2012



It sounds like a fairly-tale . But it is not. It is a true life story. The people of Lagwa, a community in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, virtually live with monkeys or what is otherwise known as Scalter guenon. The monkeys are seen in the bushes, gardens, around the houses and within living environments.

According to Mathew Osuagwu, President General, Lagwa Development Union, nobody can accurately state the year the monkeys came to live with the people of the area. He said: ' I can tell you that we about the 15th generation of Lagwa community and this is taking it for granted that every generation lived for at least 100 years. In other words, our forefathers credited his name as Agwa and his wive, Agwawunma lived here about 1,600 years ago. Oral account has it that Agwa was an established and successful hunter.

On several occasions, when Agwa either went to hunt or farm, a particular wild animal that was later identified as monkey(enwe), jumping up and down in the bush fed his pregnant wife by providing her with all manners of fruits. The woman had gone to her nearby farm to uproot the weeds. It happened that the woman told her husband of all the necessary help she got from the monkeys. The man was humbled by the kindness showed to his wife by the monkeys and thereafter decreed that no member of the household should harm or kill the animal. This is why the people of this area do not kill or harm the monkeys you see jumping up and down around us''.

Probabably, Nze Iwu Njoku, aged 120 might be the oldest man in Lagwa. Though he hails from Umunokwu, until 2002 when it became an autonomous community, one of the villages in the Lagwa Autonomous Community. Umunokwu community still retains all the traditions, customs and cosmologies it inherited from Lagwa. He said: ' I can tell you that any monkey anywhere in the world today migrated from Lagwa.

The monkeys, you may not know, do have their traditions and customs. For instance, if a monkey dies, the first monkey that gets to know about it will make a sound that will alert others within that vicinity that one of them is dead. They will gather and then bury the monkey in a hole or dig a hole with their forearms. In fact, woe be tide anybody not well armed who nears where monkeys are performing rite of passage, they would not allow you to come close.'' Njoku noted that the monkeys equally have their own courts where they adjudicate justice.

According to him: ' Let me quickly tell you that monkeys also have their own courts where they settle disputes in their own ways. If anyone of them commits any offence, they would gather and rule over the case. Based on the gravity of the offence, they pronounce judgement. If it is a severe crime, the offender will be ostracised and it will not return to Lagwa community. This is why you see some monkeys in other places other than Lagwa. Also, if a new wife is born or new wife is married the monkeys will know just as they equally get to know when a Lagwa indigene is dead.''

Meanwhile, Christianity and modernity are going strongly against the Lagwa monkeys as most Christians and the educated do not seem to agree with the myths and legends surrounding the advent of the monkeys. Pastor Vitalis Abiakwu is of the Bible Missionary Society. He is of the view that the monkeys are mere animals created by God and should be seen as such. 'We are not against the monkeys. We appreciate them because they are created by God.

But the issue of telling us that anybody that kills the monkeys should be meant to appease the gods or perform rituals or sacrifices are neither here nor there. They are bush animals and should be treated as such.' the pastor said.

It was gathered that in those days, any Lagwa person who kills any of the monkeys will face the wrath of the gods and the community but not now as some people or groups who defied this traditional law got away with it when confronted by the community.




Source: http://odili.net/news/source/2012/may/31/501.html

Hundreds of species and natural systems are under threat globally. Some taxonomic groups adapt better than others. Due to their life histories, primates are particularly susceptible to disturbances. The 2009 IUCN Red List classified about 50% of the 413 extant primate species as Threatened. Within Africa, Nigeria is the most populous nation and retains only a small fraction of its original forested area. Nevertheless, Nigeria is critically important for African primate diversity. The country harbours several threatened primate taxa, including Sclater’s monkey, the Niger Delta red colobus, the Cross River gorilla, and the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

The Niger Delta and Igbo-speaking states (“Igboland”) are important for rare primates and other threatened taxa. The red colobus and chimpanzee populations in the Niger Delta, for example, were unknown to science until the 1990s. This region also harbours key remaining populations of Sclater’s monkey, Nigeria’s only endemic primate species. The Niger Delta and Igboland have no official protected areas. The only regional protection conferred on wildlife is through social taboos and sacred forests. Support for research and conservation efforts is thus urgently needed. Previous research indicated a paucity of knowledge on the Niger Delta chimpanzee, as well as an urgent need to address crop-raiding behaviour of Sclater’s monkeys and raise awareness of the cultural importance of the sacred monkeys among residents in the Igbo communities where the monkeys have long existed alongside humans.

The totemic and cultural position of sacred Sclater’s monkeys should be promoted to ensure the survival of these populations. Rufford Small Grants Foundation has been a significant supporter of conservation efforts on behalf of the Sclater’s monkey; this project serves as an extension of previous research and conservation activities, as well as a new effort focused on an endangered and severely neglected chimpanzee population in the politically volatile Niger Delta.



Red Colobus


[img]http://rzss.files./2010/05/lhoests-monkey_0004.jpg[/img]
Sclaters Monkey

[img]http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/files/Sacred%20forest%20grove%20adjacent%20to%20a%20cassava%20farm%20in%20Akpugoeze,%20Enugu%20State,%20Nigeria.jpg[/img]

[img]Sacred forest grove adjacent to a cassava farm in Akpugoeze, Enugu State, Nigeria.[/img]

[img]http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/files/Abakum%20B.%20Owai,%20education%20officer%20at%20CERCOPAN,%20talks%20to%20secondary-school%20students%20in%20Lagwa,%20Imo%20State,%20about%20environmental%20issues%20and%20conservation..jpg[/img]


Abakum B. Owai, education officer at CERCOPAN, talks to secondary-school students in Lagwa, Imo State, about environmental issues and conservation.

stu.pid pastor. he should be buried alive for trying to destroy this harmonious peace between man and nature.

my heartfelt congratulations to the Lagwa Community.