Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria

by Elphinstone Dayrell

When he returned home his friends encouraged him to make another attempt to get his wife back, and advised him to take a larger canoe, which would not be so likely to upset. Ode started off in a big canoe the following morning; but when he got to the other side of the river he heard a kingfisher making a noise on his right-hand side, in a bush overhanging the river. Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on the same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known to be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had made a noise on his right-hand as he was going down the river. The man then said to Ode, “What kind of a child did you first get when you were married?” And Ode told him that his first-born child was a boy. Ode’s friend then said, “Your good fortune depends on your left.[7] You will meet with much opposition where you are going, and you will not bring back what you are going to seek.” So Ode returned to his canoe and paddled on with much suspicion in his heart. He landed at Inkum, and went to see a friendly chief called Aigonga, to whom he told his story and asked him for help. The chief gave Ode one of his boys to show him the way overland to Inde and they started off together.

Unfortunately for Ode, his wife Edidor had consulted a ju-ju man called Ekum at Inde, who had a very powerful medicine which enabled him to see what was going to happen, and this man told Edidor that her husband was on his way to catch her and take her home, and that if she wanted to stay at Inde she should hide herself at once.

When Ode arrived at Inde he searched all over the towns, but could not find his wife. He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a very powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his wife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger. But Ode would not go home, and got an Inde boy to show him the place where the ju-ju man lived. Ode then asked Ekum what had become of his wife Edidor. Ekum did not at first reply, but gave Ode one sharp stick and one blunt stick, and after a time said, “Touch your body with the sharp stick and also with the blunted one; if you feel any pain with the sharp stick, go home at once and do not bother me any more; if you do not feel any pain, come to me to-morrow morning and ask me any questions you like concerning your wife.”

The Inde boy who had gone with Ode, directly they had gone a little distance from the house, strongly urged Ode to go home, as the sticks the ju-ju man had given to him were known to be very dangerous, and if he went there again Ekum would probably either poison him or call upon the lightning to kill him, which he was quite capable of doing. The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his father-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde himself again. Ode thought the advice good, and returned to Okuni with the two sticks Ekum had given him; these he gave to his father-in-law, telling him what had happened, and at the same time asking him to try to get Edidor back for him. When he saw that Ode’s life had been in danger and that he had escaped, the old man repented, and told Ode to stay at Okuni and he would try to make Edidor return to him. He therefore sent a messenger to Inde to tell Edidor to return at once to Okuni. But Edidor was enjoying herself too much, and had no desire to return to her husband. The ju-ju man also had taken a fancy to her, and when he found that Edidor’s father had been trying to persuade his daughter to return to her husband, he put some ju-ju into her food which made her take an intense dislike to her husband. When Edidor’s heart had turned and she found that she hated Ode, Ekum made some strong poison, which he gave to Edidor and told her to put it in her husband’s food, and that when he was dead she should return and marry him.

The next day Edidor started off for Okuni, taking the poison with her, and intending to kill her husband on the first opportunity, but when she reached the house Ode produced their three children and talked to her very kindly until her heart was cold. Edidor then lived with Ode for a month, until the ju-ju man, finding she did not return to him, made another strong ju-ju, which at once made Edidor want to go back to him at Inde. She therefore packed up her things, and was starting off for Inde when Ode seized her and said she was not to go. That very night Edidor put half the poison Ekum had given her into Ode’s food. He then became very ill, and died after two days.

Ode was buried by his relations, but Edidor only mourned a very short time and then ran off to Inde, where she joined her lover. Ekum was very glad to get her back again, and called all his friends together. He then killed a goat, and they had a big feast, and he told all the people that Edidor was going to be his wife.

During the night Ekum asked Edidor to marry him properly, but she asked him to wait for a time until she knew all his ways and habits, and she promised she would then marry him. For some little time after this Edidor went about with different men, but Ekum always found her out, and when she returned to him he would tell her what she had been doing and the name of the man she had been with. This made Edidor afraid, but she dare not leave Ekum altogether, as he might get the lightning to kill her or cause his ju-ju to catch her. Then Ekum again asked Edidor to marry him, and she agreed to do so, but said that before the ceremony took place she wanted to join his ju-ju, so that she might know everything and not be afraid. Ekum was pleased at this, and showed Edidor all the ju-ju he had, and explained them to her. When he had finished, Edidor was so frightened that she ran away and left Ekum. Ekum, however, looked into his ju-ju pot and saw at once where she was, so he sent a messenger, who seized her and brought her back. Then Edidor made up her mind to kill Ekum, so she went to his ju-ju pot which he always looked into when he wanted to know where she had gone or what she was doing, and broke it. She then cooked the food and put the half of the poison Ekum had given her for Ode into the food and gave it to Ekum to eat; he died the next day. Before Ekum was dead, Edidor ran back to her father’s house at Okuni.

When the Inde people found that Ekum was dead, they at once knew that Edidor must have killed him, as she had run away. They therefore went to Okuni to have the palaver judged. When all the chiefs and people had met together, Edidor was accused of having poisoned Ekum, her lover. Edidor then stood up and told the chiefs that Ekum had made her poison her husband, and that when she found his ju-jus were so powerful; she broke them, and gave half the poison Ekum had given her for her husband to him in his food, and that he had then died at once.

After considering some time, the chiefs decided that they would not punish Edidor, and said that “The stone Ekum had thrown had returned and hit him.”[8]

The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison ju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives or any other women, because if they wished to run away from their husbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison them.