Use/Abuse of Traditional Post-mortem in Ekpe Community of Akoko-Edo, Edo State, Nigeria

USE/ABUSE OF TRADITIONAL POST-MORTEM IN EKPE COMMUNITY OF

AKOKO-EDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, EDO, NIGERIA

BY

ORIFAH, Samson Obadun

([email protected])

MATRIC NO: 168812

INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATION (CLA 706)

COURSE INSTRUCTOR:

DR. OJEBODE, A

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

ABSTRACT

It is quite interesting to note that post-mortem is not only available in orthodox medicine but also

in African traditional culture and communication media. Different means of carrying out

spiritual autopsy among Africans exist. This is what this paper terms “traditional post-mortem”

(TPM). This paper, however, looks at the use and abuse of the traditional post-mortem, a unique

means of interaction between the living and the dead in Ekpe community as reflective of such

practice in Okpameriland in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. Different

ways of its manipulation in contemporary age likened to „spiritual gagging‟ and gate-keeping

constitute abuse. Some limitations/socio-cultural implications of this abuse are also highlighted.

Data was collected through interview and participant observation. The theoretical frameworks

relevant to this discourse are the media system dependency, uncertainty reduction and uses and

gratification. It is observed that TPM will remain long in use among the people because it is a

sine qua non for all burials replete with socio-communicative uses which science/foreign

religions cannot supplant. The contemporary admissibility of information generated from extra-

mundane communication in Nigerian courts beams a ray of hope.

Key words: traditional post-mortem (TPM); extra-mundane communication; abuse

1. INTRODUCTION

The culture of finding out the cause, circumstances and nature of death is universal. While it is

medical in the western culture, it is traditional and spiritual in Africa. This is what this paper

terms as traditional post-mortem (TPM). That which is traditional and common to Africa is done

on special occasions in most cultures such as when somebody dies mysteriously. However,

among the Ekpe people in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo state, Nigeria, this is a

sine qua non in every death, irrespective of the age and status of the dead and the circumstances

surrounding the death. TPM is called orimi-enuemi. Apart from finding out the cause and nature

of death, it is used to make other enquiries concerning the dead and the living and to serve other

purposes beyond communication.

These uses of the TPM further explain the beliefs in immortality, existence of two spiritual

fates/worlds, perception of the dead as information source with adequate knowledge about the

people and authority over them. There are beliefs in causality, judgement after death and

witchcraft. Recently, however, use of TPM has now become abuse of the information-seeking

device through manipulation of the dead with an herb which has some socio-cultural

implications on the immediate family. This manipulation tantamount to spiritual gagging is done

as a temporal measure of cultural face-saving. This paper, therefore, tries to establish TPM,

investigate its use and abuse among the Ekpe people of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area,

Edo state, Nigeria.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Communication between the living and the dead is an integral aspect of extra-mundane

communication. Scientifically, modernity claims technology has not improved communication

when it is death that separates individual culture (Wilson, 1998: 4; Akpabio, 2003: 31; Ibagere,

1994: 93; Odiase, 1983). However, there is the acknowledgment of claims that the dead choose

to communicate with the living and the living can also communicate with the dead by special

techniques and rituals. This is reported to be in vogue in Japan, Africa and Korea. Close

communication with the dead and belief in the efficacy of their powers are closely associated

with minkisi in Kongo religion. Among the peoples of the Congo Basin, especially the Bakongo

and the Songye people of Kasai, exceptional human powers are frequently believed to result

from some sort of communication with the dead. People known as banganga (singular: nganga)

work as healers, diviners, and mediators who defend the living against witchcraft and provide

them with remedies against diseases resulting either from witchcraft or the demands of bakisi

(spirits), emissaries from the land of the dead (Retrieved from

"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nkisi&oldid=495253338").

These propositions have been accepted by many people since ancient times. Among the Greek

religious cults and the Aztecs, Moody (1987) unearthed this ancient tradition at the ruins of the

Oracle of the Dead (Psycho-manteum) where priests could arrange encounter between the living

and the dead. He also attempted to bring the practice into modern times. He created a domestic-

sized apparition chamber in his home. He allegedly experienced reunions with his deceased

family members and subsequently invited others to do the same. He believed that meeting the

dead had the potential for healing; the living and the dead have the second chance to resolve

tensions and misunderstandings in their relation.

Thomas Edison and Gugleilmo Marconi were among the inventors who more than toyed with the

idea that they could develop a device to communicate with the dead. Traditional ideas and

practices were dropping by the wayside, though not without a struggle. With industrialization

starting to run up its score, an old idea appeared in a new guise: one can communicate with the

spirits of the dead no matter what scientists and authorities might say. It sounds ridiculous

looking at the agenda of manufacturing a cyber-immortality, that is, a technology that would be

useful for recording, preserving and re-animating human personalities and creating a „human

communication with the dead‟ in the near future (Brainbridge: 2006, cited by Cees,

www.nordicom.gu.se/common/publ_pdfl; Moody, 1987). Below is the picture of Thomas Edison

and the image of the media machine that should enable communication between the living and

the dead.

The Fox Sisters were also reported to have used practices of spiritism (table-tapping) as a form

of communication through which, then, the Ouija Board was wildly popular for many years. This

was a modern derivative of devices that had been used in communicating with the dead 2, 500

years ago in China and Greece. The new version started as the planchette, a heart-shaped or

triangular, three-legged platform. While moving the device over a piece of paper, one could

produce graphic or textual messages. The belief was that the person who operates the device

really does not have control over the messages, but rather it is up to the spirits. The picture below

shows the Ouija Board.

However, with the fraudulent communication with the dead, the Ouija Board and other

subsequent mediums of communication with the dead were criticized by some as too effective,

and, therefore, dangerous. Believers in the spirit world feared that evil entities would respond to

the summons taking the place of the dearly separated. Other critics warned that the

manifestations did not come from spirits of the dead but rather had escaped from forbidden

corners of the user‟s own mind and could lead to psychosis and suicide.

Katarzyna notes that the Chinese commemorate the dead by making them transactional beings by

burning papers representing money on every Quing Ming Jie Day. Nanda (1994) also reports that

some United States‟ farmers use a divination technique called “water-witching” or “dowsing” to

find sources of well water where scientific opinion offers no certainty about where water would

be found.

Among the Naskapi, who hunt Caribou on the Labrador Pennisula, a form of divination called

Scapulomancy is used for hunting. A scapula of a caribou is scorched by fire. The scorched bone

is used as a map of the hunting area, and the cracks in the bone are read as giving information

about the best place to hunt. Carl Jung‟s doctoral dissertation is alleged not to be a medical

research but investigation of a medium showing how his maternal cousin, Hilene Preiswerk, held

weekly séances with his dead first wife. In Micronesia in Pacific Islands, recently deceased kin

often appear as spirit visitors and possess female relatives in order to provide comfort guidance.

Identically, the spirits of the dead of Anglo-American practices deliver important messages from

beyond the grave.

As observed by Odiase (1983), and O‟Donovan (1996) cited by Choon and Merwe (2008) the

Bible acknowledges the existence of the communication between the living and the dead; though

with some bias. Biblical references on this include I Sam 28: 3-19; Lv 19:26-31; Deut 18: 10-11;

Job 7: 7-10; Isaiah 8: 18-20, & Lk 16: 19-31. Choon & Merwe cite other scholars who believe

this to include Arnold (2004), Fischer (2001), Manyeli (1995), Oleka (1998), Robinson (1993),

Setiloane (1986) and Gehman (1999). For instance, in the Watch Tower (1991) entitled “Spirits

of the Dead”, Dauda of Sierra Leone relates how a medicine man gave another under a white

cloth a mirror through which a granny spoke to confirm the owner of a piece of land in dispute

accepted by the other party as the judgement. Gbassey, a Sierra Leonean, also narrates how she

heeded her late father‟s instruction got through dream and was well. In spite of these reports, the

Watch Tower condemns the practice of any form of communication between the living and the

dead among Christians.

Furthermore, most people (particularly Christians) doubt the authenticity of this and defend such

with Biblical references. Choon & Merwe further explain that the scriptures and the Koran

consistently reject any form of communication between the living and the dead because it

negates the omnipotence of God. This is to sustain the imposition of foreign religions on African

traditional religion which believes in the existence of God though represented by deities.

Apparently, in western culture, the communication between the living and the dead does not

reveal that it is used in finding the cause and nature of death. The submissions of Schmidt clearly

express the ambivalence inherent in the some Biblical books about communication between the

dead and the living:

In 1 Sam 27, King Saul visits in secret a necromancer

To speak with Samuel. Samuel comes but rebukes Saul

For this act. The living are not allowed to get in contact

With the dead. At the same time, there is no doubt that this

Is possible. The prohibition to communicate with dead saints

Is abolished with the resurrection of Jesus.

Furthermore, Christians claim and proclaim that they are in communion with all the spirits of the

saints in heaven through Heb 12: 22-24, in spite of the fact that Jesus is recorded to have met

with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. This could be found in Lk 9:30; Rm 14:

7-9. These saints are reported in Mathew to rise from the dead but visited the people of

Jerusalem after Jesus‟ resurrection (Mt 27: 51-53). This provides the argument for the visits of

the living-dead in Africa and consequently, the communication between them and the living as

further shown in the conversation between the rich man in hell and Abraham. There is also the

argument that God is for the living (Lk 20:38; Rm 14:7-9). However, the short and long of the

arguments is that there is communication between the living and the dead.

The Nigerian laws of the Federation are tailored from their colonial master‟s laws and therefore,

condemn most traditional culture and communication system. In other words, extra-mundane

communication, for instance, is sanctioned in the Criminal Code Act Cap 77 Laws of the

Federation of Nigeria 1990 section 210 Chap 424:

any person who for gain or reward pretends to exercise or use any kind

of witchcraft, juju, sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration, or undertakes

to tell fortunes, or pretends from his skill or knowledge in any occult science

to discover where or in what manner anything supposed to have been stolen

or lost may be found, is guilty and liable to one year imprisonment .

Death, to Africans, is not thought to end human relationships. Rather, those who die enter the

spirit world in which they are invisible (Mbiti, 1970; Ozumba, 2004). Though the spirit world is

a radically different world; it is also a "carbon copy of the countries where [the ancestors] lived

in this life." To Choon & Merwe, the dead have identity of transcendental beings representing

the religious, ethical and institutional values of society; their abode and influence ranges from

physical to spiritual world. There is an intimate and interdependent association in which the dead

and the living are believed to interact. To Soyinka, there are various areas of existence, all of

which interact, interlock in a pattern of continuity. Rituals are considered as an intimate setting

of trans-cosmic interaction called “chthonic realm, primordial marsh, transitional gulf and the

fourth stage regarded as the store for creative and destructive essences. There is a cyclical

transition process. The dead are part of the social world of living –although in another realm.

Mbiti‟s submission is supported by Choon & Merwe (2008) who observed ancestor worship as a

form of communication between the living dead and the living. This notion also relates closely to

what happens in Iboland. Akpabio (2003: 33) cites Ilogu (1998) to have reported the use of

sacrifice and libation in ensuring the smooth transition of the soul of the departed. This is further

reinforced by spiritism‟s adherents‟ belief that the spirits of the dead survive mortal life and can

communicate with the living. In religious terms, spiritualism denotes the belief that the dead can

and do communicate with the living and affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a

fact, scientifically proven by the phenomenon of spiritualism. Such communication promotes

psychical research, readings, healings; it promotes scientific research among scientists and

engineers. This shows that the Christian concept of eternal separation between the living and the

dead is not agreeable to Africans.

Among the Mendes, Amposah (1975) observes that the family of the dead allows the nguamzi to

find out whether the dead is a witch. The left side of the corpse is cut open and the spleen is

brought out and placed in a mixture of herbs and if it sinks to the bottom of the pot the deceased

is said to be a witch and the spleen mamai is cut into small pieces and buried separately to

prevent further harm. Still among Ghanaians, women at special moments of the Akan funeral

celebration could become the channel or medium of communication with the deceased. At this

point, any female celebrant usually not of the deceased‟s matrilineage could be possessed by the

spirit of the dead such that she dramatizes the life experiences and desires of the dead such as

dress, speech, or dance imitation of the dead. She could transmit messages, instructions, advice,

etc, to the bereaved family and community and otherwise difficult lineage conflict could be

resolved (Aboranpah, 1999). Transmission of messages from the dead may also be conveyed

through diviners. Mbiti (1969) reports how a diviner was possessed and used through a medium

in Kampala.

Sjaak (2000) cites Rattray (1927) to have identified “carrying the corpse” as a ritual practice in

Ghana to find the witch (bayifoo) behind a death but outlawed or discouraged by colonial

masters. Close communication with the dead and belief in the efficacy of their powers are closely

associated with minkisi in Kongo religion in Congo Basin, where exceptional human powers are

frequently believed to result from some sort of communication with the dead.

Oqweezy & Ayedun-Aluma (2006) assert that calling the spirit of the dead to find out certain

issues or solicit assistance is a very common or most similar belief in Africa. The Yorubas are

said to use a medium called oku iro for awakening the dead to give answers to certain questions.

Here, the dead talk to the living like the oracle which is a direct information source in Things

Fall Apart (Asakipkiti & Akujobi, 2007). Odunlani

(www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/346.paper1420.pdf) mentions consultation of the dead in Things Fall

Apart. Bradbury (1957) reports consultation of the diviner on occasions of death among the

Isokos and Urhobos. Olasunkanmi & Halira (2012) observes the use of some drums to involve

spirits to disseminate useful information during worships both traditionally and in modern

religions buttressed in the Nigerian home video entitled Saworo Ide.

Similarly, Wilson (2005) identifies nkwong among the Ibibios to be used to speak to ancestor-

spirits during idiong performance. Atakpo (1988) cited by Wilson (2005), reports use of Ekpo

Nduk, a divination society among Ibibios, as a means of communication between the living and

the dead. Kolawole (1982) reports how equipped the traditionalist could be in changing the

obstacles to the destiny of the child where findings tend to be unfavourable during Ikosewaye

and Imori omo and arranging communication between the living and the dead somewhere.

Ogweezy & Ayedun-Aluma (2006) narrate how the community of Emu-Obodoeti clan of

Ndokwa West, Delta state, divined the cause of death of a lady who died mysteriously by

throwing kola-nut on the coffin, pouring libation, and sprinkling white native chalk and

commanded the coffin thus: “if you died as a result of evil deeds, move towards the evil forest,

but if not remain where you are.” Immediately that was said the corpse moved towards the evil

forest and eventually the woman was buried in the forest.

Similarly, Joseph and Otaru (2005: 76) report that traditionally in Akuku, Akoko-Edo, any

deceased is tested to ascertain whether it is a witch/wizard or not. This is called Ukphokpho. If

the deceased is okwochi, the medium will indicate and tell the cause of the death. Abegbe (2007)

erroneously calls this process “witch-testing” characterized with lack of basis in reason, science

or common sense. To the Somorikans, it is called a judicial process (Ekharo & Tunde, 2007).

Amodun (1999) confirms the prevalence of consultation with the dead among the Okpameris of

Akoko-Edo Local Government, Edo state. This he puts thus:

Tradition has it that when a person dies prematurely,

he is tested to know the cause of his or her death.

In another related breath, he informs us that the origin of the practice did not start with the

introduction of Ulokwaigbe shrine in Okpameriland but rather was a covert practice among the

people. He states it thus “the secret practice continued till the set up of Ulokwaigbe shrines

publicly made in 1955.” This is a clear pointer to the fact that nobody can predate the

metaphysical practice of traditional post-mortem in Okpameriland. From the above, the living

communicate with, to, and for, the dead; and vice versa. Such communication is an ancient

universal religio-cultural phenomenon prevalent in all religions and cultures which serves

different communication and socio-cultural needs; involves different means and differs from

culture to culture (Akpabio, 2003; Ibagere, 1994; Odiase, 1983; Choon & Merwe, 2008). Most

forms of communication between the living and the dead could be abstract, physical, oral,

graphic, non-verbal, active, passive, modern or ancient, religious, cultural, metaphysical and a

vertical mode of communication between two unequal parties; one spiritual, and the other,

physical. It is absolutely beyond the hold of science but within the jurisdiction of religions in

whatever form it takes. It shares most features, forms, strengths, weaknesses and challenges of

extra-mundane communication, perhaps with variations. Across cultures we have prayer,

sacrifice, laying of wreath, dance, song, incantations, invocation, divination, dream, séance,

exorcism, vision and contemplation, chant, crystal balls, mediums or necromancy, hysteric,

libation, trance, spiritism, water-gazing, display of memorial notices and obituaries, epitaphs,

rituals, incense, oath-taking, re-incarnation, ancestor worship, supernatural happenings, and other

pseudo-spiritual activities as well as physical revelations or magical and other-worldly

verbalizations, precognition, magic alchemy, materialization is another area of supernatural

experience without logical explanation; psycho-kinesis-water divination, poltergeists, among

others.

These communication forms could be pre-mortem or post-mortem communication. The formal

means any form of communication on behalf of the dying and before his/her death. The living

could make consultations with the dead-ancestors on behalf of a dying man to know what rituals

to do to keep him/her alive. In another way, the dying man gives advice to his people, what to or

not to do, blesses the family and talks about those who have passed away before him/her as if

they were together (Awolalu &Dopamu, 1979: 255, cited by Dopamu, 2006). The latter means

communication indulged in after the death of the person either with the dead or any supernatural

forces. Not all forms of this communication involve finding out cause and nature of death.

Therefore, the one that concerns determining the cause and nature of death termed “traditional

post-mortem” is the concern of this paper. Common to all cultures that indulge in TPM is the fact

that it is carried out on special occasions.

However, Ekpe is one of the Okpameri communities in Akoko-Edo earlier referred to by

Amodun (1999). Therefore, among the Ekpes, traditional post-mortem (TPM) which is reflective

of such practice in Okpameri-land is a sine qua non for all burials and not just premature deaths

as claimed by Amodun (1999). Nonetheless, there has not been any serious attempt at studying

any one mode in terms of its use and abuse nor equating any of the post-mortem communication

with the dead as our form of traditional post-mortem equal to medical autopsy. This is what this

paper intends to do.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The uses and gratifications, media dependency and uncertainty-reduction theories are found

relevant to the discourse of use and abuse of traditional post-mortem among the Ekpes of Akoko-

Edo local government area, Edo State. These theories help shed light on this means of

communication between the living and the dead adopted by the people. The media system

dependency theory explains that the more people depend on having their needs met by media

use, the more important will be the role that media plays in the people‟s life, and therefore, the

more influence that media will have on the people. From the macroscopic societal perspective, if

more and more people become dependent on media, media institutions will be reshaped to serve

these dependencies, the overall influence of media will rise, and media‟s role in society will

become more central. Thus, there should be direct relationship between the amount of overall

dependency and the degree of media influence or centrality at any given point in time. In other

words, effects occur not because all-powerful media or omnipotent sources compel that

occurrence, but because the media operate in a given way in a given social system to meet given

audiences‟ needs and wants. Ugboajah (1979), cited by Michezw (2012), shares this:

the most significant thing about Africa‟s traditional communication is

that the audience has learnt to attach great significance to it. Local media

are also said to have force and credibility and that puts stability into

the African indigenous institutions.

These needs may be shaped by culture or by various social conditions. People in all societies

need information in order to make decisions such as determining the cause and nature of death

and burial form to be adopted. This is true among the people of Ekpe who depend on the dead as

source of information expressed through the media. The uses people make of media determine

media‟s influence. Even in the industrial age, the society has become doggedly dependent on the

media to understand the social world, act meaningfully and effectively in society and, the greater

the need and consequently the stronger the dependency; the greater the likelihood “that the

messages will have an effect; though not everybody will be influenced by the media. The

society‟s level of dependency is a function of the number and centrality (importance) of the

specific information-delivery functions served by a medium”, and the degree of change and

conflict present in society. The media dependency theory is seen as an extension of the uses,

needs and gratification theory. The difference between them is that media dependency theory

looks at audience goals as the origin of the dependency while the uses and gratification

emphasizes audience needs. The uses made of any media are inherent in the needs and goals of

the people. Both, however, are in agreement that media use can lead to media dependency

(Anaeto, Onabajo & Osifeso, 2008; Baran & Davis, 2012).

On the other hand, the uncertainty reduction theory explains that individuals have the ability to

decrease uncertainty by establishing practicable patterns of interaction. Uncertainty reduction

theory is a powerful explanation for communication because it operates in all contexts to help

explain why people communicate as they do. However, communication does not always function

as an uncertainty reducing agent, but also serves to increase uncertainty when information

conflicts with the expected feedback. These theories collectively will help examine the use and

abuse, limitations and socio-cultural implications of communication with the dead considered

here.

4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How are the cause, nature and circumstances surrounding death ascertained?

2. What are the uses of the medium with which the cause, nature and circumstances are

ascertained?

3. What forms of abuse arise from the use of the medium?

4. What are the limitations/ implications of these abuses?

5. METHODOLOGY

Research tools employed include interview and direct observation. The interviewees comprise

both sexes between the ages of 55-97. These persons have held and still hold important positions

in the church, shrine, society and government in Ekpe and outside. These informants assessed

were quite open to disclose information. Informal discussions were held with various people.

The post-mortem of Late Chief Ejamah, the Odofin of Ekpe, and Madam Idu Agunbiade recently

afforded the researcher the opportunity for participant observation, in addition to the fact that the

researcher has witnessed the process right from his childhood. Notes were taken. The data

collected were translated into English and further supported with information from secondary

data. In addition, secondary materials relating to communication between the living and the dead

were consulted and consequently cited where appropriate to support the primary data collected.

6. TRADITIONAL POST-MORTEM AS EXTRA-MUNDANE COMMUNICATION

Post-mortem is a medical examination of the body of the dead in order to find cause, and

circumstance of death, culprits involved if it is a murder case, among others. Traditional post-

mortem called orimi-enuemi, an old tradition among the Okpameris of Akoko-Edo, is basically

the process of making enquiries about the nature, cause of death and the spiritual fate and

destination of the dead through carriage of Ekor, the traditional communication channel. It is the

mouth-piece of, and for, the dead which links human beings with the dead. Only males are

eligible to carry the Ekor. Abegbe (2007) erroneously refers to this as “witch-testing” among the

Okpameris.

At the death of anybody, the chiefs are notified to get approval to conduct the TPM. This process

enables the community and family of the deceased to know the cause of the death, nature of

burial and also, judge the spiritual identity of the dead as whether being a witch/wizard or non-

witch/wizard and decide the spiritual destination of the dead. Amodun (1999: 48-49) confirms

this practice by stating thus: “Upon death, announcements are made to family members, relations

all over. The gathering has a social purpose.” This explains that the dead are not buried anyhow

among the Okpameri-speaking people. Witches and wizards are buried in the evil grove.

However, certain items of the dead like his/her fingers, underwear, seven fresh palm stocks,

some strands of spear grass, cap or headgear depending on the sex of the dead, some strands of

hair, and a bowl of fresh water from the stream are needed for the traditional post-mortem. The

palm stocks are cut into equal size and woven round to house the nails tied to the cap or the

headgear at the head while the pair of pants or shorts is tied at the tail. The bowl of water is put

at the front close to the person in charge of the process with a palm stock left with some fronds at

the top.

Two carriers stand out, with the person more spiritually inclined to it at the front/head. They pick

up the ekor with the left hand unto their heads. At that instant they become possessed by the

spirit of the dead such that the person at the head answers to all the questions in gestures and

demonstrations. This kind of possession tallies with what Wilson (2005) terms “temporal

spiritual transmigration”, Osho‟s (2010), Kwabena and Mbiti‟s descriptions of spiritual

possession explained as occurring when a spirit of a different entity descends to control an

individual so that he behaves in a way quite different from his normal behavior. The individual

possessed by the medium loses his personality, senses and being and is controlled by the spirit of

the dead. He is led to act and speak according to the wishes of the spirits of the dead in relation

to questions asked. This interesting and fascinating psycho-socio-cultural experience is reported

by Amodun (1999: 48) thus:

For a person to be tested, a traditional medicine man will be

called upon to recite incantations, he will then start calling on

the dead person to come and „drink water‟ from a herbal

concoction prepared for the purpose, probing if he was not

a wizard…

In another supporting breath, Amodun (1999: 48-49) adds that:

Some materials are removed from the deceased and

tied to mock-coffin. It is believed by the Okpameris

that the spirit of the dead when involved usually

forced the carriers of the coffin to bend forward

towards the concoction. If the water vanished

from the container, he is buried ceremoniously.

Otherwise, he will be thrown into a cave with-

Out regards for the family. For such a person

Who failed, they have to find out if he was killed

By the shrine

The above report by Amodun finds further support in Anderson‟s (1958: 283-284) observation

about trance:

When the conscious mind is in trance, the entire mental, emotional and

spiritual character of the man is changed. He no longer is the person he

was or is he necessarily even the person he might be capable of being,

but in some mysterious way responds so completely to every suggestion

given him that he can speak fluently in languages he does not

know or understand.

Furthermore, the above is quite beyond the use of the powers of extrasensory perception and

parapsychology. Immanuel Swedenborg, one of the world‟s greatest mystics, often exhibited

powers of clairvoyance. Edgar Cayce, “the Miracle Man of Virginia Beach,” documented

thousands of cases of medical clairvoyance wherein he accurately diagnosed the ills of others

while separated from them by hundreds of miles. She placed herself under auto-hynosis. In

trance he assumed another identity, erudite and worldly, far removed from his humble and

uneducated self. Daniel Dunglas Home, the celebrated Scottish spiritualist, levitated himself

from the ground before unimpeachable witnesses. Mrs Leonora Piper and Mrs Osborne Leonard,

in séance, were able to produce accurate details of the past known to no living persons and

unrecorded by any known documents (Anderson, 1958, p.275).

Visual signals and gestures communicated are interpreted by elders in consonance with the

agreement of the ekor. When the interpretation agrees with the body gesture, the possessed

carrier uses the right gesture to indicate consonance. If otherwise, he indicates with the right

disagreeing gesture. The process involves question-answer-interpretation of visual gestures

demonstrated by the possessed carriers. There are two forms of questions often asked the

traditional post-mortem. These questions are general and specific. The general involve the cause

and nature of the death directed by elders or the priest. The elder/priest in control calls the name

of the deceased, first, to react to general questions; and then specific questions. General

questions asked are usually: “come and drink water?” If the dead is a non-witch/wizard, the ekor

goes to hit the bowl of water. When it hits the bowl of water, the answer to any question is

positive. But if otherwise, it hits a stone. In like manner, when it hits the stone, the answer to any

question is negative. Any question is asked up to three times to ensure that the result is

confirmed. Follow-up questions are asked to elicit any other information needed. This is done

within a specified time frame to avoid total loss of consciousness. Air is blown into the ears of

the carriers to bring them back into consciousness after disengagement of the ekor. This

moderation is to avoid recurrence of an ugly incident where a woman carrying uwan, a similar

medium carried by the womenfolk, during Ovieso era, was alleged to have disappeared till date

with the medium. When the carriage becomes too long the muscles of the carriers become

stiffened such that if not taken adequate care of, could be disastrous. One of the respondents

narrated that in 1963 some Aimola children who re-enacted the ekor to fish out a tin of oil to

prepare their game caught by a trap could not disengage the ekor until it took them home. A

similar observation is reported by Mbiti of the Kampalas (p.176). The Aimola children‟s case

further shows that once the fingernails of even the living are used in the ekor, any form of

investigation could be carried out. The major strength of the ekor is that it can mediate between

the living and the dead through anybody that is spiritually attuned to it. More so, it can be re-

enacted anywhere, anytime, provided the right paraphernalia are used. Only one person

spiritually imbued is needed to be at the head during the carriage ritual. However, where the dead

dies abroad any of his/her clothes could be used or his/her nails are sent home. The result of the

TPM could be confirmed through oracular consultation called eva. This is usually done in the

almighty shrine of Ojah believed to be the “Supreme Court”. Ekor is kept by the family for

further future investigations and enquiries. However, this defies scientific explanation (Ibagere,

2010; Awake of February, 2011:22).

7. USES OF THE TRADITIONAL POST-MORTEM (ORIMI-ENUEMI)

All communities also have a culture in the sense that they cannot function without certain

agreed-upon rules for communication and shared underlying values (Straubhaar & LaRose,

2000). The traditional post-mortem has specific/general uses which interlock. It plays socio-

cultural, judicial, investigative, identity formation, historical, spiritual and conflict resolution

functions. The TPM is the chief determinant of burial for any death in Ekpe. It is used to

ascertain the cause and nature of death, find out how to forestall impending disaster especially

serial deaths. This relates to its usage for spiritual surveillance. It serves as a public hearing

system. The Ekpes believe in judgement, existence of dual spiritual fates and worlds. The two

spiritual worlds are symbolized as afe-ewerimi efia (abode for the unrighteous) and afe-ewerimi

efuegbi (abode for the righteous) respectively. This corresponds with Somorika‟s belief in the

dual spiritual worlds called erimi-alasha (hell) and erimi-efele (heaven; Ekharo, et al, 2007).

Amodun (1999) attests to the fact that it is done to identify witches and wizards from other

people in the family or community. This is further corroborated by Katarzyna who notes that the

embrace of the concept of post-mortem reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked

cuts across all religions. The TPM is used to adjudge the dead to know their spiritual fate and

destination. This in turn informs burial form and rite to accord the dead. So those adjudged

witches/wizards are shabbily buried in the evil grove of Uganya, corresponding to hell in

Christian faith while on the other hand, those adjudged non-witches/wizards are decently buried

at home with full burial rites indicative of good citizenship. Amodun (1999: 49) confirms this

when he states that “the Okpameris believe that it is the criminals‟ souls that are buried in the

open bush (cemetery) but in the home.”

This makes the medium the final judge over the spiritual fate of the dead. As a judicial medium,

it is used to adjudge the dead as either responsible for socio-cultural mishaps or free the dead

from such carnal accusation. It is possible that the world had adjudged the dead while alive a

witch or a wizard, the TPM decides the final truth about that. Where the result got becomes

doubtful, „appeal‟ is sought through other mediums like oracular consultation later. The medium

could be used to fish out culprits or criminals. Amodun (1999) confirms this use when he states

that “for clean-ups (non-witches and wizards) dances are staged by the family.” This gives a

socio-cultural exoneration and sense of purity. These beliefs serve to fine tune the people‟s

conduct in all situations.

TPM is generally used for making enquiries classified here as causative, recommendation,

prevention, spatial/location, historical, socio-cultural and judicial. It is used as an investigative

medium of journalism to find the exact location where the talisman of witches/wizards are

hidden and get them disposed; locate where the grave of a non-witch/wizard should be dug; and

make prevention enquiries by finding out ways of forestalling impending dangers. Finding out

the cause of and reasons for the death or any problem through the medium constitutes causative

enquiry. It recommends solutions to socio-cultural, political, religious, and medical, problems.

TPM is also used to find out whether the family members are eligible to use the property of the

deceased since not all the deceased want their people to use their property as in the case of

witches/wizards. This is to ensure safety for the family members. For instance, Amodun (1999)

captures this essence thus: “there is danger in hiding a suspected witch.” He, on page 49, makes

vivid reference to a case of a Makeke woman in a nearby community to Ekpe in 1957 named Ayi

who reportedly said at night:

I am a witch

Do not hide

My property

Do not eat my food

So that it may be well with you

TPM is used to warn witches/wizards to desist from injurious actions especially when the dead

adjudged operated in conjunction with some others. It discloses ways of tracking to death other

culprits involved in any mishap just in the same way a member of a gang caught will help in

acquainting people with information that could aid the apprehension of others. Where and when

it is put to manipulated use as in the case of converting witches/wizards to non-witches/wizards,

it further empowers the witches/wizards without disclosure of their identity. It is used to create or

clear stereotype because calling somebody a witch/wizard sounds culturally an abuse.

It is used to trace the genealogy of old incidents, ascertain or situate precisely when certain

occurrences happened in relation to contemporary problems. Through digging into the past as

they affect the present, young citizens are availed the opportunity of learning historical incidents,

why and how they happened and to whom they did and what to do when they recur. Evidence of

manifestations resulting from abuse in the use of the traditional post-mortem were recounted by

some of the respondents as witnessed by or narrated to them.

It is used for social integration and conflict resolution of any kind between or among family

members especially as the people believe that the dead are superior and have final authority over

the living. It serves as the final arbiter. The dead are believed to be on the side of truth. Their

decisions through the traditional post-mortem are highly obeyed and venerated. Mbiti states that

useful information is obtained from the spirit world; so people believe; whether or not the

information is genuine. Africa will hold to such truths or realities that have been corroborated

and confirmed by spiritual means (Ozumba, 2004). A good example is the settlement of the long

land dispute between Jaiyeola Dennis and his in-laws during the TPM of Chief Ejamah observed

on the 18th

September, 2012. Also, those who have outstanding disputes with or have offended

the dead have opportunity to resolve them and be forgiven finally, respectively. Critical divorce

cases have been settled through this process.

However, in these uses there can be abuse. There are certain manipulations constituting abuse

that could impede the effective performance of the traditional post-mortem as an information

seeking device. This manipulated use serves parochial communication needs of detractors.

However, to the detractors, the communication needs are intended and desired but are against the

cultural functions expected of the process.

8. WHAT CONSTITUTES ABUSE IN EKPE TRADITIONAL POST-MORTEM

Every culture defines what it terms abuse. Denotatively, abuse refers to the use of something in

a way that is wrong or harmful; or misuse while using something; unfair treatment of something;

or offensive remarks usually made about something. Generally, it could be said that neglect of

usage of indigenous media could constitute abuse, internal/external, conscious/unconscious,

religious/cultural, legal/political, passive/active, etc. However, it is an act of omission or

commission adjudged on the basis of a combination of community standards and professional

expertise considered to be communicatively damaging. Such an act could be committed

individually or collectively to damage immediately or ultimately the communication process or

its culture. Amodun (1999) noted that some families, in Okpameriland, have devised a method of

burying a wealthy man or chief to cover shame in the public cemetery. This in itself constitutes

abuse because it takes cultural manipulation to ridicule a cultural practice.

For instance, in science, Bhullar (2004) notes the problems of the medico-legal autopsy to

include high controversy, hypocrisy and juggleries, non-acceptance of the report culminating in a

second autopsy no matter how scientifically correct such report may be. Killgrove (2011)

observes post-mortem manipulation as a bio-archaeological process involving mix up of bones of

the dead as abuse. News content distortion in modern media is an acknowledged fact. There is no

absolute objectivity; the accuracy of information is probably less a measurable quantity and more

a question of judgement (MacBride, 1981: 156-158). Osho (2010: 245) observes that the

rainmakers are believed to be capable of manipulating the environment meteorologically to bring

rain or stop it. This is of use when it affects the people positively while when it is used to

destabilize social functions it amounts to abuse. The above clearly show that no profession or

process is devoid of abuse which diminishes its reputation.

Within the context of this paper, abuse, which is any willful activity that affects the credibility of

information dissemination, shall be classified into internal and external, legal, cultural, scientific

and religious. Those internal result from within the culture itself while those external arise from

culture contact. There is cultural alienation whereby the people get away from their culture due

to exposure to other cultures felt more superior brought to them through mediated

communication. Thorpe (1992: 34) acknowledges the manipulation of spirits and his concept of

“contagious magic” explains that things part of the body can be used to harm that body. These

are sputum, hair, finger-nails. In other words, the magic could manifest even on the dead. The

strength of TPM can and has often been turned into a weakness. The cultural interest placed

upon the dead and the family in terms of how the dead and the family should be perceived has

sometimes rendered it liable to manipulation by interested individuals and/or groups.

However, just as some herbs are used to wash the body of the dead to prevent it from

decomposition in Yorubaland (Kwabena, 1975: 65), so are some people within the family of the

Akokos in Ekpe „gifted‟ at using a certain herb to „spiritually gag‟ the dead being the source of

information. In other words, if the dead ought to be a witch/wizard, it turns out to be a non-

witch/wizard. None of the interviewees could name this herb but agreed the family never uses

this herb on their members. In this case, the herbalist indulging in manipulation becomes a

gatekeeper. The gate-keeper distorts messages because s/he wants people to see or hear what will

create the wrong impact on the people to the advantage of their clients against Ibagere‟s

observation that the intended impart favours the community or generality. When the information

got betrays the spiritual fate of the dead by turning the dead from a non-witch/wizard to a

witch/wizard, there is more abuse by giving the dead the wrong funeral dance, songs and

gunshots and identity. Some affected dead later exhumed, taken to Uganya, and consequently

given the right dance, songs, and gunshots were cited. If otherwise, it is done to disgrace the

family of the deceased as witchcraft is a social taboo. Second, when the clothes of a non-

witch/wizard are used during the TPM, in the case of a supposed witch or wizard, the

information will be altered to favour the spiritual fate of the dead. In this instance, the image of

the original owner of the clothes manifests and information generated refers comes from such

original owner and not from the beneficiary as it happened in some cases. Third, a detractor

could bewitch the dead while laid in state to give contrary information and stereotype that family

or the dead. Fourth, the dead, in the case of a witch or wizard, could have been feeding with the

herb while alive or may have kept a talisman somewhere to ensure s/he is not disgraced by the

information from the TPM. Fourth, when the nails expected to be put at the head of the ekor is

put at the tail, the information becomes distorted. Fifth, during the TPM exercise, criss-crossed

charmed toes could pose problem to using the communication process effectively. Although, the

ekor is said to usually identify such hindrance before it could work out. Otherwise, any

information sought will bring the opposite feedback.

The above partly informs modern religious abuse of TPM which is condemned as a form of

carnal information source susceptible to prejudice, demonic subversion and unacceptable by the

Christians. They even quote Deuteronomy 18: 9, 10, 11 &; Isaiah: 8: 19-20 as a back-up for

abuse on TPM. Partain (1986) cites Fashole-Luke to have observed that Christians dismiss

traditional religion and its communication content and process as a false religion. The point

made clear here is that local religious media functionaries/devices are devilish and instruments of

the devil. What constitutes religion is the constant in/formal interaction between the transcendent

unseen and the human realms of weakness/limitations. Religion in Africa is part of a survival

strategy and serves practical ends, immediate or remote, private or public, etc. This explains why

people consult traditional religious functionaries to assist them to succeed (Dopamu, 2006).

The legal abuse is explained better in Echibueze Okorie‟s (2007) observation, cited by Abegbe

(2011). There are laws against such practices and information got is not admissible in Nigerian

law court. In law, stereotyping the dead through the TPM as a witch/wizard and by extension, its

family amounts to defamation. This is character assassination, an ethical problem of giving false

portrayal in media (Okunna, 1995; cited by Obaze & Fashanu, 2006: 138-139). Furthermore,

section 210 of the Criminal Code Act Cap 77/1990 condemns use of juju, name-calling any

person dead or alive as a witch/wizard by whatever means; use of carnal knowledge to defame;

or use of conjuration or any occult science to discover where or in what manner anything

supposed to have been lost or stolen may be found is guilty and liable to one year imprisonment.

This appears to have been reported in two incidences recorded by Amodun (1999). He reports

that in 1924, a young man died mysteriously in Ibillo and the parents invited a medicine man

from Uneme-Nekhua who confirmed to the family that a woman gave Adebayo bean cake. She

was cruelly treated in spite of denying non-involvement. This case was reported to the then

district officer, Mr. Kerry at Auchi. This led to the arrest of Pa Omole who invited the testers.

The said method of testing was adopted in the court. Thereafter, the district officer wrote to

Chief Ogunnubi, the traditional ruler of Ibillo thus:

I have witnessed the method adopted to detect witches

in your domain. It is barbaric and uncivilized. The accused

woman is innocent and Pa Omole should serve three months‟

imprisonment with hard labour.

The district officer‟s position appears to be taken from his legal submission quoted thus in

Amodun (1999: 48-49): “to threaten a witch or; to cause a witch any harm or to employ any

method to detect a witch…” which is supported in the criminal code and the constitution of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria. Similarly, on page 50 of Amodun‟s work, he reports another

instance of a legal case involving an Ikiran woman in 1963 acclaimed a witch whose son, James

Odafa, sued those involved and were later jailed having been found guilty. All this de-robe the

cultural practice legally.

However, Asein (2005) notes that it does appear that the courts may even be prepared in

appropriate cases to be assisted by the traditional belief of a community in oracles or jujus as

evident in the case of Akpodike v Abueze (2002 12 WRN 58). The court accepted consultation

of an oracle as part of the custom of the parties and concluded that the contention of the appellant

that belief in juju was “unreasonable and not part of our law” was untenable. The oracle‟s

pronouncement was accepted to resolve the dispute over the headship of the Umuduruonyiriagba

kindred in Okoroduruaka village of Imo state, Nigeria. This supports culture being

communication; communication being culture; and culture being given substance through

communication (Pearce & Kang: 1988; Hall, 1959, cited by Bradford, 1992).

By and large, the manipulated judgement of the dead is not without some manifestations in due

course. The manifestations from the manipulation of a witch/wizard include physical and

spiritual appearances of the dead, sinking of the grave, death of family members, wrong usage of

the property which should be confiscated by the shrine as desired by the god which could

exterminate a family and finally exhuming of the dead as witches and wizards are not buried at

home. It cannot be covered up as explained by the informants.

9. LIMITATIONS/SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF TPM

The manipulation tantamount to spiritual gagging reduces the cultural credibility of the

communication process embedded in religio-cultural lives of Africans. The credibility of the

information source becomes doubtful and inimical to whatever decision follows form it. Since

burial is highly communal, where the exact identity of the dead becomes doubtful, the elders stay

away for safety. This further has socio-cultural stereotype and psychological trauma. Anderson

(1958: 280) buttresses this fact by stating that “much trickery has been unveiled in investigations

of professional mediums, but there remains a large body of indisputable evidence of

materializations and rappings and levitations, solid testimony that certain individuals either have

access to supernatural power or are used by such a power to effects its ends.” Furthermore,

conflict in information generation could engender disregard for extra-mundane communication

and cause intra- and inter-family conflicts. Division looms within the family in respect of where

to bury the dead especially with an extended family and whether or not to conduct TPM. Also, a

family with positive cultural image against witchcraft that is not watchful could be stigmatized

and stereotyped easily. More so, the family members are exposed to untimely death. By the

manipulation the censoring of open questions that could cause chaos by elders becomes

ineffectual.

More cost is incurred exhuming the dead to the evil grove and conducting the appropriate burial

rites for the dead. This amounts to unnecessary double or triple burial ceremony. Judicially, the

decision of the TPM becomes nothing but injustice where its information which ought to be

positive becomes negative. The dead converted to a witch or wizard is believed to falsely

unjustly suffer the fate of the witches and wizards accorded them in the culture as they cannot

force the people to reverse their fate as in the case of witches and wizards. The family becomes

unjustly stereotyped and negatively labeled. However, there are other media that could verify the

result of the TPM. The people still dig deep to unravel through mystical means to ascertain the

basic for such phenomenon in their reality scheme. This means they are aware of the

consequence of superficial contemplation of their universe. They thought and tried as deeply as

their theoretical and experiential apparatus could aid them. Notwithstanding, TPM has far –

reaching thoughts about their environment, positions, beliefs, physical and transcendental

phenomena with which they are acquainted. This is their pragmatic metaphysics, if an idea, an

explanation, a conception a belief or folk wisdom worked; it was accepted even though they may

not fulfill certain fundamental criteria of objective reality (Ozumba, 2004).

10. CONCLUSION

TPM is a sine qua non for all funerals of the Ekpes and shall be depended on because of its

indispensable socio-cultural and communication uses. Thus supplying information about social

happenings, mysteries and the future by religious functionaries cannot be done away with as long

as the traditional people are dependent upon such media for so many uses despite their abuses

which are rife with problems perceived as temporary. As observed by Kwabena, like divination it

is deep-rooted in the minds of both educated and uneducated, because, it gives the people

something Christianity does not, and will not. For instance, Amodun (1999) quotes Chief

Ogunnubi, one of the elites in the then Okpameriland, as saying: “If you drink water, you will go

to heaven but if you fail the test, you will go to hell.” This statement shows that the people

equate being a witch or wizard with going to hell or symbolizing evil while being a non-witch or

wizard as adjudged by the post-mortem equals being a saint or going to heaven when one dies.

He adds that secret testing is been done and victims not disclosed anymore because of

persecution from Christendom or shame arising from being part of the Christian family.

For the people, science cannot supplant TPM no matter how it frowns at it; it is beyond scientific

enquiry. Science cannot detect witchcraft. Communication between the living and the dead as it

relates to the concept of TPM is neither a mechanical nor an electronic process that can be taken

over by science or technology. And overtime, information from such media may gain legal

recognition. TPM covers invoking the dead to tell its cause of death, seeking such data through

divination and carriage of ekor or any related medium. The people should do away with

manipulation playing down the tradition.

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Informants:

1. Abisco Akomolafe, aged 67, traditionalist and farmer, 16, Secondary School Road, Ekpe,

Akoko-Edo L.G.A., interviewed: 19th

September, 2012

2. Aimola Christopher, farmer, aged 97, 12, Ekpe-Makeke Road, Ekpe, Akoko-Edo L.G.A.,

interviewed: 12th

September, 2012.

3. Ama Oye Fidelis, farmer and tailor, aged 84, 16, Secondary School Road, Ekpe, Akoko-

Edo L.G.A., interviewed: 12th

September, 2012.

4. Gabriel Adalumo, aged 75, ex-service man and farmer, 11, Ekpe-Makeke Road, Ekpe,

interviewed: 15th

September, 2012.

5. H.R.H. Oba T.A. Oluwole, The Baiyekpe of Ekpe, aged 74, Iko Royal Palace, Ekpe,

Akoko-Edo L.G.A., interviewed: 12th

September, 2012.

6. Mr Ogedengbe Esho, aged 86, custodian of Olokwaigbe Shrine, Ekpe, Akoko-Edo

L.G.A., interviewed: 17th

September, 2012

7. Mrs Ejamah Florence, aged 68, pensioner and tailor, 11, Ekpe-Makeke Road,

interviewed: 15th

September, 2012.

8. Mrs Oyanogbo Itunu, aged 72, trader, Ekpe-Makeke Road,Ekpe, interviewed: 19th

September, 2012

9. Olorunda Edwin, aged 58, farmer and diviner, Ekpe-Makeke Road, Ekpe, Akoko-Edo

L.G.A., interviewed: September

16, 2012.

10. Phillip Ologun, aged 77, pensioner and farmer, 2, Royal Palace, Ogali Quartars, Ekpe,

interviewed: 18th

September, 2012.

11. Sylvester Ayeni, aged 55, chief priest of Olokwaigbe Shrine, Ekpe, Akoko-Edo L.G.A,

interviewed: 17th

September, 2012.