Kingdom of Delta State recently lost their matriarch
who died at the ripe age of 82. She lived a fruitful
and illustrious life, leaving behind six children,
many grand children and great-grand children. A
successful trader, all her children are university
graduates who equally turned out to be successful
in their various professions. Her immediate and
distant family members are proud of her because
hers was a life worth celebrating. (Ofuobu is not
the real name of the family. As a condition for
granting this interview, the first son demanded that
the family name not be mentioned. And on the
request of this reporter, he came up with the
fictitious name of Ofuobu, which literally means
keep it secret in Itsekiri.)
But even before members of the Ofoubu family
contemplated plans for her burial rites, one thought
quietly occupied their minds: the ife (oracle)
consultation to determine if she was a witch while
alive. It would eternally be devastating,
embarrassing and stigmatizing for the family if
they go and bife (find out through oracle
consultation) and the outcome was negative; that
is, if she was a witch while alive, and so could not
be given a proper burial, but her corpse would be
dumped at igbele , the evil forest where the corpses
of witches and wizards are abandoned to be
devoured by vultures and monkeys.
The Ofuobu family is Itsekiri and ife consultation is
a ritual in Itsekiri traditions which every corpse
undergoes before burial.
Ife, bife, ife bibi
“There is a slight distinction between ife and bife ”,
says Pa Enoko Peduru, an Itsekiri elder in Warri,
who is well grounded in the customs and
traditions. He explains that while ife is the oracle,
bife is the Itsekiri word for consulting oracle, or
finding out through oracle. The act of consulting
oracle is known as ife bibi. And the Itsekiri word
for an oracle priest is obi ife.
Oracle consultation is not peculiar to the Itsekiris,
he says. “There are different ethnic groups that
also consult oracle, and they have their various
names for it. The Urhobos call it evwa ; the Ijaws,
agbraka . To the Binis, it is iha , while the Yorubas
call it ifa .”
“Every ethnic group has its share of witches and
wizards”, avers Pa Omajuwa Matsese, a self-
avowed traditionalist at Ajamimogha, Warri, who,
along with his son, Faith, spoke to this reporter.
Pa Metsese explains that ife bibi is not unique to
the Itsekiris, because when a person dies in some
other ethnic groups, especially in controversial
circumstances, family members of the deceased
might insist on finding out through oracle the
cause of the death.
“It could be found out that the person was killed
through witchcraft or other evil means, or he has
died from his past evil or wicked deeds”, Pa
Metsese says, adding that such oracles are just for
the sake of revelation as nothing is done to either
the killer of the deceased nor the deceased if he
had died from his past evil deeds.
“Itsekiris do not allow that”, he declares. “In our
own case, if it is found out that the dead person
was a witch, he is not buried on our soil inside
town. His corpse is thrown into igbele , the evil
forest, across the river.” But if the oracle reveals
that the person has died from the evil deeds of
another person, ife bibi awaits the culprit. “That is
what makes our own oracle casting for the dead
unique”, he enthuses.
Faith, the young Metsese, a geologist graduate and
businessman chips in that depending on the
prowess of the obi ife, the ife could even reveal
some relevant descriptions of the person
responsible for a death. It could be that the culprit
is a family member of the deceased: a parent,
sibling, uncle, or aunty.
“That goes to show you how relevant ife bibi is”,
the elder Metsese says. But to avoid family
conflict, the obi ife could just say the death was
caused from within or from outside.
To bife and dump the corpse of a witch at igbele is
an age-long tradition of the Itsekiris. Though
similar customs and traditions in burial rites,
marriage ceremonies, inheritance and others with
other ethnic groups, especially their Urhobo and
Ijaw neighbours, this aspect of ife bibi is peculiar
to the Itsekiris.
“It’s the unique way of our traditions of punishing
the evil ones in our midst”, Pa Peduru says with
pride. “If you feel you could commit evil through
witchcraft or any other supernatural means and
leave the world in peace, ife bibi awaits you.” He
adds that spiritually, such a person pays for it as
his corpse being dumped at igbele causes his
spirit to be restless, going by the belief, which also
brings shame to his family.
But ife bibi is not only done to determine if
somebody was a witch while alive, he says.
Like many Itsekiris who spoke on this, it was
corroborated by Pa Oleko Ejutemiden, an obi ife at
Ode-Itsekiri, also known as Big Warri, an island
town across the Warri River, which is regarded as
the traditional capital of the Itsekiri nation. The
oracle priest adds that through ife bibi, everything
could be revealed about a death, depending on the
enquiry made to the ife . It responds to enquiries on
whether a person died a natural death? If not, what
or who was responsible?
Mr. Alfred Omagbemi, a veteran broadcaster and
Itsekiri cultural advocate, however reveals that not
only the corpses of evil ones are dumped at
igbele . He says there are some deaths that have
their peculiar ‘spirits’, causing the corpses not
deserving to be buried inside town. “They are
when a person commits suicide, drowns or burns.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment