Long before independence and soon after, up to the late 1950s and early 1960s, most parents in Orokam had not embraced Christianity.
They were mostly pegans and worshippers of several gods such as Alekwu, Enyanwu, Owo, Ejebi, Egri, Okpa, etc
Method of worship was through sacrificing live animals such as goats, Rams, Chicken or fowls, Cocks and Tortoise which throats were usually slitted and the gushing blood sprinkled on the idol, muttering deep incantations and pouring Litany of requests before the idol at the same time.
Other items used for the sacrifice included kola nut immersed in a bowl of water, palm wine and locally brewed gruel (Eje Okpoto) and Palm oil.
Materials used for the sacrifice were selected depending on the nature of the sacrifice usually determined through consultations with the Fortune Teller.
The commonest ailment at that time was malaria fever, headache and general weakness of the body which was believed to be caused by the spirits of dead relations and colleagues who were hungry in the land of the dead.
Their spirits, therefore, caused ailment to afflict the living relation as a way of asking for sacrifice. The Fortune Teller reveals the cause of the sickness and what items needed for the sacrifice so that the sick person would not die.
In his sleep the sufferer would dream about relations and colleagues who have died and buried long ago. He would dream about other frivolous things he hardly remembers on waking up.
Once a sickness displayed such symptoms, it was believed that the god of “Egri” was hungry and needed some sacrifices to be taken to the other hungry spirits waiting in the land of the dead.
No one knew or saw the spirits for it was an abomination to see spirits or ghosts of the dead with naked eyes.
Such was the scenario when my uncle’s wife, Onyoko returned from Ukwo market one evening and ran up to my Mum crying profusely that she had seen ‘herself blind’ (le’yi manyi) because she had seen spirits and ghosts with her naked eyes moving in a convoy through the Ukwo market.
According to her, the spirits were in numbers made up of men wielding long sticks with which they whipped their cows as they moved along the road through the market.
They were accompanied by their wives and children with the very young ones strapped at their mothers’ backs and carrying bowls of ‘nunu’ and assorted wares on their heads.
Their mode of dressing was outlandish with strange hair styles, piercing earrings and metal bangles. Their men were fair skinned and quite handsome while the women and children were equally beautiful which made uncle’s wife conclude that only spirits could be that beautiful.
It took sympathizers time to convince her that what she saw were not spirits but Fulani normads who were grazing their cattle. The next day while on our way to ‘Enumabia’ stream we saw the same group of Fulanis in their makeshift shelters where they have camped as they grazed their cattle along the verdue in the gorge (ogo ijereyi) as their kids played around and offered ‘nunu’ to interested passersby.
They were friendly and harmless. The men carried no dangerous weapons except the long sticks with which the cows were controlled. When we came back the third day on our way to the stream again, they had packed away from the gorge to other grazing destinations.
They never grazed on farmers’ crops neither did they destroy farmlands. Where they trespassed unintentionally they had apologized sincerely and settled amicably with the farmers before moving on. They were really good neighbours wherever they went – North, South, East and West.
Today, we have entirely different types of Fulani’s to contend with. They are said to be normads from the Sahel regions of Mali, Niger, Senegal, Libya etc. Their own convoy usually without women and children is made up of fat cows with huge horns and move in large numbers accompanied by a handful of herdsmen wielding AK-47 guns, matchets and other dangerous weapons.
They invade farms, graze farmers’ crops and destroy farmlands with impunity. They kill, maim and massacred farmers and their households – men, women, boys, girls and innocent children and widows.
They are never challenged or arrested for their crimes but are instead shielded and cosseted by the government of the day that had earlier informed Nigerians that they were killer herdsmen from other countries who had crossed Nigeria’s borders illegally.
On invasion they set houses ablaze and chase farmers away from their ancestral homes. They forcefully occupy the destroyed homes as conquerors waiting for eventual movement to the dreaded government promised but now suspended Ruga Settlements.
However, with the avalanche of hostile stance against the suspended Ruga policy and calls for its total cancellation, it appears that for these killer herdsmen, the road to Ruga is still rugged.
(Professor Jerry Agada, former Minister of State for Education, writes from Makurdi, Benue State).
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