Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria

by Elphinstone Dayrell

XII.—Concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.

In Okuni, a long time ago, there dwelt a chief called ’Ndabu. He was considered to be a rich man in that part of the country, and was the owner of numerous slaves. He also had a large farm and many canoes. Chief ’Ndabu was, however, not a happy man, as all the time he was young he never had a son who should inherit his property when he died. On this account, he married thirty wives, but none of them had a child. At last, the Chief consulted a ju-ju man, and gave him a big “dash.” The ju-ju man then made ju-ju, and finally told the Chief that the only wife he had, by whom he could get a child was a woman called Iya Agagim. He advised the chief to pull down all the houses where his other wives lived and to send them away. He should then build an entirely new house for Iya Agagim, and make a sacrifice of a white goat and a white fowl, to which he should add a white piece of cloth which should be tied up inside the door of the new house. The ju-ju man told the chief not to sleep with anyone until the house was built, and that then Iya Agagim was to go into the river and wash herself all over, and having thrown away all her old clothes, she was to put on a new cloth before she joined her husband so that she would be an entirely fresh woman. When the chief heard this, he was very pleased, and went home.

Having called all his wives together, he told them what the ju-ju man had advised him to do, and although he was very sorry to part with them, still they would all have to go as he was determined to get a son if possible. That night all the wives cried bitterly. The following day the chief sent to his farm for yams which he gave to his wives, and many rods as a dash; he then sent them back to their respective parents. Iya Agagim was also sorry to lose her old companions. When they had all departed the chief pulled down all the houses where they had been living, and then built a new house on a different piece of ground. When this was completed he made the sacrifices as he had been directed to do by the ju-ju man. Iya Agagim then went down to the town beach on the Cross River and washed herself very carefully. She then threw all her old clothes away and walked back to the house where she put on a new cloth and joined her husband. After a month had elapsed she found that she had conceived and told her husband, who was delighted at the good news.

The chief then called a play for all the young men and young women of the town, and told them what had happened. He also gave them plenty to eat and drink so that they might rejoice with him in his good fortune. Chief ’Ndabu then went to the ju-ju man, taking many presents with him, and having thanked him for his good advice which had turned out so well, he then asked how many children he would have by his wife; and when the ju-ju man said he would have twenty-one children, he was very glad and went home, but he did not tell his wife. The chief then sent his slaves off to the farm to make it larger, as in the future he would have to make provision for a larger household. From the time Iya Agagim conceived, the chief kept her in the house, as he was afraid that if she met any of his former wives they might be jealous, and try to do her some injury.

In due course, the woman gave birth to a boy baby, and the chief held another big play which lasted for three days and nights, and much tombo was drunk. Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a big “dash,” asked whether the boy would live. The ju-ju man said that he would live, and that some day one of his sons would discover something which the Okuni people had never heard of or known before. Then the chief went home. Altogether Iya Agagim gave birth to twenty-one children, and the last boy who was born was called Amoru. The chief then knew that his wife would not bear any more children. As they grew up, whenever he went to his farm, Chief ’Ndabu used to take all his children with him, and there were many people in the town who were very jealous of him on account of his large family. At last, some of the townspeople met together and decided to get rid of the chief and all his family. One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief ’Ndabu’s house at night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju which the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful against witches and might kill him. At last, he thought of a plan, so he went to one of Chief ’Ndabu’s former wives, who was called Elilli, and asked her what sort of ju-ju her former husband had to protect him against witches. Elilli then asked him why he wanted to know, so the chief told her that they were tired of Chief ’Ndabu and all his family, and wanted to kill them, but that they were afraid of his ju-ju. Elilli said that she was also very jealous of Iya Agagim having so many children, and that as she was a witch herself she would like to join with Chief Elullo and kill the whole family. Elilli said that the safest way to dispose of them all was to put a witch into Amoru the last born, and that he would take them to his father’s house so that they would not then do anything contrary to the chief’s protecting ju-ju. Chief Elullo then invited Chief ’Ndabu to dine with him, and asked him to bring his wife and all his children. The chief gladly accepted the invitation and Elullo prepared large quantities of palm oil chop and tombo for his guests. One portion of the food he set aside for the boy Amoru, and this portion was bewitched. In the evening Chief ’Ndabu came with his family, and they all enjoyed their dinner. But the prepared food had been given to Amoru who eat it. After they had dined, they all went home and, shortly afterwards, went to bed. During the night, Chief Elullo turned himself into a witch-bird (the owl) and went to ’Ndabu’s house, where he called the boy whom he had witched. By this time a lot of witches had arrived, and when Amoru came out he was surprised to see so many people. Chief Elullo then cautioned the boy never to tell anyone what he saw, and then took him to the place where they cooked human food, and gave him a piece of flesh and some yam to eat. Amoru eat the yam, but took the flesh home and hid it. He hid the meat inside his mother’s fire-place, and covered it over with pots. Although he never spoke about what he had seen, he could not help wondering how it was that he could go in and out of the house when all the doors were fastened. The next night when he heard the witches play in the town, he was compelled by the witch inside him to go and join them, and found when he got to the cooking place that a man had been killed and hung up to the branch of a tree by his neck. Chief Elullo told the boy that they were going to eat the dead man as they had eaten the man the previous night, and that he should have his share as before. Amoru was very frightened when he saw what was done, but dared not say anything. The dead man was then cut up and cooked with yams. When the food was sufficiently cooked it was divided amongst the witches who sat down and eat it, but Amoru only eat the yam and took the meat home and hid it in the same place. Every night for a month and a half the boy attended the feast of the witches, and either a man or a woman was always killed and eaten; but Amoru always took his piece of flesh home and placed it with the other meat. All this time Chief ’Ndabu had been making sacrifices to his ju-ju to protect him against witchcraft, and he used to call all his sons together to sit round the ju-ju while the sacrifices were being made, but Amoru sat outside as he was afraid to go near his father’s ju-ju on account of the witch in him.

One night when the boy went to the feast the witches told him that it was his turn to provide a body for food, but Amoru said he was too young and had no one to give. Then Chief Elullo said, you have a father and mother and plenty of brothers and sisters, we shall be pleased to eat any of them. But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his people to have them killed for the witches’ food. Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had seen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that he had received his share although the people who had been killed and eaten were the dear relations of some of the witches. Amoru then begged the witches to have another round and that when it came to his turn again he would give either his father or mother up to be eaten. To this they all agreed, and they went on in their usual way killing and eating a man or a woman every night: but Amoru never eat his share. The witch people used to play every night from the time other people went to bed until cock crow when they were obliged to go home. When the time came for Amoru to supply a man to be eaten, he began to get frightened. So at last he made up his mind to tell his eldest brother, whose name was Nkanyan, all about the witches and the difficulty he was in. Amoru then got his big brother to go into the bush with him so that no one could hear what he said, and then told him how he had been made a witch in secret and was compelled to attend the meetings where the dead bodies were eaten, but he explained that he had not eaten any of the human flesh, having hidden it in the fireplace. Amoru then said, “the time has now arrived when I have to produce a man or a woman for the witches to eat, and they want my father or mother or one of us children, but as I do not want to give them anyone I thought I would get you to help me as you are big and strong.” At first Nkanyan could not believe his young brother’s story, so Amoru brought him to the place where he had hidden the meat, and showed it to him asking him not to tell anyone as he had thought of a plan. Amoru then told his brother to lie down in a bed opposite the door, but that he was not to go to sleep. He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was to stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his arm raised ready to strike. Amoru also said, “one of the witches will present the calabash holding ‘the night’ three times, and on the third time you must smash the ‘night’ calabash[4] with your matchet, and it will at once become light.” He told his brother to be brave and not to make a noise or tell anyone until the calabash was broken. He must then call out to the people who must catch the witches and tie them up.

Amoru told Nkanyan that when the time came he would hide under one of the beds, but the witches would run outside, and could be easily distinguished from the other people, as they would be all naked.

That evening, after all the people had gone to bed, the witches met as usual for their feast and play, and Amoru went and joined them. Chief Elullo said it was Amoru’s turn to provide a body for food and asked him who he was going to give. Amoru replied that he would give them his eldest brother Nkanyan. The chief then told the people to take the night calabash with them, and to bring Nkanyan out of his father’s house, but Amoru asked Elullo to lead the people, as he was the chief of the witches. To this the chief agreed, and Amoru showed the way to his father’s house, and having opened the door showed them the bed where Nkanyan was supposed to be sleeping.

Then the man presented the “night” calabash towards Nkanyan three times, but as he held it out for the third time, Nkanyan hit it with his matchet and smashed it to pieces with one blow. Directly this had been done, it became light at once, and all the witches were discovered naked, and at once started screaming and running away, trying to hide.

But Nkanyan called out in a loud voice for everyone to come out and seize the witches, and very soon they were all caught and securely fastened up. The people then took the witches to the palaver house, and Chief ’Ndabu sent word to the other chiefs that they would be tried at once.