• Base view of the fallen tree Photo: Sun News Publishing

National Index

Generals have been known throughout history to commit suicide rather than face the humiliation of being captured by the enemy. Such could also be imagined in the animal kingdom where some animals are known to fight for control of a particular territory. In the plant world, it has never been contemplated.

However, that was what happened on October 26 at Mgboko Umuoria, in Obingwa Local Government area of Abia State, which has turned the sleepy village into a Mecca of sorts, when a silk cotton tree, whose age is put at above 200 years, opted to uproot itself rather than suffer the humiliation of the sawyers’ blade.

Like a General, the Osisi Apu, as it is called in Igbo, located at the Nkpa Ama Egbe (evil forest) in Umuorie was one of the two trees that remained awesome and dreaded in the community. According to tales from the community, nobody in the past nor present had ever thought that the sacred silk cotton tree would be cut down and sawn into logs even as the tree itself never imagined that any human being would ever summon the courage to cut on its bark with a knife not to talk of cutting it down.

Chief Uzodinma Akataobi, the central village head of Mgboko, said: “The Osisi Apu is located in our shrine, Nkpa Ama Ebge in Umuoria. We saw it in the shrine and nobody in the entire village saw it as a young tree. It is estimated to be about 200 years old. The shrine is sacred and it is only those who worship it and as now revealed, witches, who enter it to make sacrifices.

The silk cotton tree, with a diameter of over three metres at the base, kept firmly on the grounds with multiple prop-roots that are as big as trunk of a full grown tree, has over the years, as recently revealed, served as a rendezvous for witches. It is there that the relics of the property of those they killed were deposited. This had remained, until the Utuagbaigwe witch hunting revolution swept through Ngwaland in the last six months.”

Recounting the genesis of the fall of the great silk cotton tree to Daily Sun, Chief Akataobi said over the years, witches had taken over the community, destroying and killing, at will, whoever they wished, destroying the economy of private individuals and inflicting poverty, penury and disease on many .
Said he: “Their activities done through remote control negatively influenced the lives and businesses of our sons who travelled abroad or to other parts of the country. At times, once they come home or they learnt of their progress, that would be the end of their business and some times cause instant death or protracted illness that would eat up their wealth”.

“But these things were revealed when Utu, Mr. Uchenna Amanze Orji, named one of our brothers, as secretary of the witches in Mgboko Umuanunu, and as the custodian of their register. He said that as the secretary, the man knew all of them. On hearing that, we sent him out to go and defend the allegation before coming back to the village.
“It was at that point that he named about 40 members from our village and the neighboring Mgboko Umuanunu, where they had brought him to disclose their identities. In the process, they revealed the name of the woman in our village who belonged to the super witch class and who uses the silk cotton tree as base for her diabolical activities and practice”.

According to him, all the people who the secretary revealed their names were taken to Mr. Orji for confirmation and he directed that the tree be cut down to break the hold on the village.
“I was advised to take along all the elders of the village to pray before the cutting down of the tree. On October 26 after a prayer of agreement by elders of the village to neutralize the power in the silk cotton tree, we invited Elder Dick Amechi from Umugwu kindred where the shrine was situated to cut ting mark on the Apu tree as a confirmation that he approved that it be cut down.

He did so and on October 26 we brought in sawyers to cut it down. Immediately the sawyer’s blade cut through just one of the numerous prop roots of the tree that towers over 40 ft, with a base diameter of about three metres, the tree emitted a deafening hiss, and fell from its roots the way only a bulldozer could have done it. There was no rain, no wind when it mysteriously uprooted itself in a manner that would suggest that it would not allow a metal to hew it down.”

The felling of the tree, Chief Akataobi said, called for celebration as it climaxed the spiritual deliverance of the village from the clutches of the evil forces.
“We have sold it out at N120,000 to execute the building of the village council hall and any other project. You cannot imagine the feeling of liberation, love and freedom that have come back to the community. Our children abroad have been calling home and indicating that they would come this Christmas to celebrate,” he said.

Corroborating Chief Akatobi’s account, the village head of Umuoria, Elder Alwell Sunday, said his father met the Apu tree at its present size, signifying that it was older than the first settlers in the village. He recalled that the tree was shrouded in mystic powers in that any time any of its branches broke off, a prominent personality must die. The same thing was applicable to the Uhie tree before it was cut down to give way for the village electricity project. The tree was also cut down after the elders had carried out some rites.
“We have been delivered,” Elder Sunday said. Pointing to the Council Hall, he said, “it was abandoned in 1981 because of those diabolical powers but we are able to restart it since after the cleansing of the land. I assure you by Christmas we would put roof on it”.
He commended the traditional ruler of the community, HRM, Eze Oliver Uche, for his purposeful leadership that has made the current achievement possible.