Romanus Okoye
In Anambra State, some communities are waging a war against traditional deities and their shrines. The people are considering banning the use of shrines to settle disputes in their communities.
The riverine communities of Anam in Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State have many things to worry about.
The communities, known as the food basket of the state, have no good roads, no reliable electricity and they lack social amenities. This is in addition to flooding that destroys their farm produce and submerge their houses yearly.
Outside these fundamental worries, the practice of using shrines known as alusi in Anam to settle disputes has added to the people’s worries. In the words of concerned indigenes, the practice is barbaric and outlandish. They insist that the practice must be curtailed now before it throws the developing communities many years behind civilization.
There have been several issues that were settled by the gods in the community. A young man in Oroma Etiti Anam, Anambra West, was accused of stealing a mobile phone and was beaten mercilessly. He denied committing the offence, but no one believed him.
To prove his innocence, he approached the priests of two different shrines and narrated his story. He promised to return and show gratitude if the shrines could help him reveal the truth to restore his injured reputation. Somehow, either by mere coincidence or effectiveness of the shrines, the mystery was unravelled. It was confirmed that he was not responsible for the alleged theft.
So, while one of the priests accepted N150, 000 to appease his gods, the other reportedly insisted on collecting over N1million and two cars. Both parties could not agree, and in the end, the man got the priest arrested. He was accused of using trial by ordeal.
Family members of the priest got involved to save their names. They advised him to forgo the demands of his gods. And left with no choice, he reluctantly dropped the matter without collecting anything.
There was another case of a man in Nmiata Anam who used another man’s canoe without the owner’s approval. The owner insisted on collecting N50, 000 from the man, otherwise, he would have the case taken to the shrine. The offender, who did not want the matter taken to the shrine, paid and the case was settled.
There is also the case of one Mr. Nwachukwu who separated from his wife and the woman subsequently got married to another man. Nwachukwu claimed that the wife was already carrying his pregnancy before the separation. But the family of the wife insisted that the child was not his. After all entreaties for an amicable settlement failed, the man approached three shrines to aid him in ensuring that his child was returned to him. Somehow, the child was returned to him and he celebrated. Now, the family of the wife has been told to cough out as much as N500, 000 to appease the shrines to avoid calamities.
An indigene of Anam told the reporter: “In the olden days, some of our forefathers who were not Christians worshipped their gods in fear. The uprightness of the priests and sacredness of the gods were not in doubt, at least to those who believed in them. The deities were regarded as unbiased umpires. They could reveal the truth in all disputes, set the innocent free and put the guilty in agony. Their intervention was all encompassing, including in land matters, child paternity and sundry issues.
“Nowadays, things have changed. Greed and unbridled desire to get rich quick at all cost have taken the better part of many. Now, chief priests acquire the gods as an instrument for business, unlike in the olden days that the gods chose their chief priests. The demands made by the practitioners do not only numb the mind, there are also demands for different brands of cars and cash running into millions of naira. This is a practice unknown to people of yesteryears.”
All these collectively make the sincerity of the chief priests suspect, and questions are now being asked. People are wondering, are these chief priests not deliberately engaging in diabolical activities that may cause sickness or lead to the death of a disputant to prove the efficacy of their shrines? Such acts might fetch the priests millions when the victims come to appease the gods.
A leader of the community, Chief Okwudili Udekwe, said the traditional shrines were no longer as trustworthy as they used to be.
“In the beginning, idol worshipers were contented and honest,” he said. “They feared their gods and worshipped in truth and reverence. But greed overtook many who now use the shrine as a means of extorting money and building wealth, thereby adulterating the dreadful shrines and deities.”
He said in the olden days, many communities honestly used that means in settlement of land disputes; child paternity and sundry other issues, especially by those who felt threatened or were being unjustly treated by powers that were stronger than them.
In his view, using deities like Amadioha, Ogugu, Sango and others to take the oath of office would have been more effective than the Bible and Qur’an that politicians use now.
A former councillor with Anambra West Local Government Area, Chief Albert Omega Okeke, said using Alusi or Arusi, as the shrine is called in Igbo, to settle matters, should be encouraged because it reveals the truth.
According to him, it scares people from stealing or lying. “It helps us keep our farm produce by the riverside, allows people to sleep with both eyes closed, save our property like our valued elephant tusks, foam, clothes and so on.”
He noted, however, that to avoid the type of colossal abuse as was revealed in the Okija saga, the practice should not be the first option.
Omega said the bad thing about the use of Alusi to settle disputes was the bizarre terms of settlement usually demanded by the priests.
“Even when those concerned agreed within themselves to settle amicably, the priests would still tell them to bring huge amounts of money that run into millions, cows, cars or even more,” he observed.
Chief Clement Anekwe Okonkwo, a director in the local government, said the practice should be stopped in all its forms, noting that it had become archaic, adulterated and abusive.
In Umudora Anam and in many communities in Anambra West, heavy sanctions are now placed on anyone who used shrines to settle disputes without first reporting to the ruling authorities.
The present transitional chairman, Anambra West, Chief Sylvester Orji Okafor, said his community many years ago banned the use of shrines to settle disputes because of its abuse and unproductive effects. He said that if he has his way, he would want the practice banned in all Anambra West communities. He described it as an evil and stagnant practice.
Former chairman, Anambra West, Mr. Simon Onuora, also condemned the practice. His words: “For a people that are known to be backward and struggling to come out of that backwardness to contemplate a return to one of the principal practices responsible for their piteous condition is another definition of madness.
“It is important that we realise that our fathers’ penchant for idolatry is largely responsible for their resistance to Christianity, western education and the modernity that came with them. If we wish to be like the developed towns around us, we must learn to embrace what they have embraced and jettison what they have jettisoned. That is the way forward.”
Also condemning the practice, Jideofor George, an indigene of Anam said: “Just for a common allegation and pride, why will I put my brother, a future leader, a husband, a father, a cousin, an uncle or someone under the bondage of an unknown evil?
“We offend each other every day. It is not only when you take his/her land, but with the words of our mouth, our actions and attitude, so let us discourage it.
“No matter what the person did, please don’t go to Alusi. It doesn’t save but causes evil. Let us pursue peace in another means.”
He recalled a particular case where an entire family was wiped out because of a land dispute that was taken before a shrine.
“That land is still lying there today with no one living on it,” he said. “Please say no to evil.”
Investigations by the reporter revealed that there are other bad sides to using shrines to settle disputes. Sometimes, members of a family might be dying mysteriously before it is discovered that a shrine was responsible for their deaths.
Also, sometimes, a prominent person in the family might be the victim of an offence committed by one irresponsible member of the family.
Anyone allegedly killed by the shrine cannot be buried without pacifying the gods, otherwise all those who participated in the burial will face the wrath of the deity. The body is usually dumped at the shrine till the gods are pacified.