A MUST READ: Benin City’s Ritual Market revealed

To the uninitiated, seeing a tortoise could probably be at the zoo, but for those who indulge in sacrificial practices, they know where exactly to go, they know the right market and they know the right people to call on. The traditional Oliha and Ekiosa markets in Benin City are the right places to go if one needs those rare animals, native chalks, coins and several other materials which have spent over two hundred years. Feathers of rare birds like ostrich, sparrow and

even vulture, all of which have differentconnotations, as investigations revealed, you can get in these markets also. Things that were hitherto used as means of exchange in the days of old including cowries have now become ingredients of sacrificial preparations. Invariably, earthen pots serve as vessel for the preparations. Earthen pots are still very popular in Benin because they keep food steamy. Local restaurants serve delicacies like black soup, banga soup or even pepper soup in earthen pots. Whereas earthen pots play major role in the preparation of several sacrifices performed by traditionalists, these sacrifices are kept mainly in junctions because they believe that many legs cross such places. The practice continues among Binis, according to a resident. “The practice is still very relevant here, basically, because we love our tradition which includes sacrifices”, he boasted. There was a time Bishop Margaret Idahosa of Church of God Mission was asked to comment on the proliferation of churches in Benin City, and she said, “Is it not better we have that than the usual sacrifices we see in the streets?”

Investigations revealed some of the reasons people resort to the agelong practice of sacrifice include protection, search for luck, down turn in circumstance. Others do it to seek the face of the gods against conditions such as bareness, stagnation or to even ward off evil or unpalatable situations. On a collective note, individuals or groups gather to make sacrifice like in cases of annual festivals such as the Igue festival in Benin Kingdom or other customary or periodic ones. Some of these sacrifices are believed to be capable of appeasing the ancestors or the gods of the land. In other instances, sacrifices have been made to bring or stop rain depending on the situation. Situations have been seen in the past where celebrants who have invested heavily in coming ceremonies including burial, birthday parties, call traditionalists to offer sacrifice to avert rain during the occasions.

In such instances, curious observers can see at a corner of a big party or event people making wood fire and pouring palm oil and local gin to seek the face of the gods and avert rain. We have the Osun
Oshogbo festival in Osun State, the Olokun festival in the South-west and even in Rio De Janeiro,
Brazil, which all serve as pointer that people are still enmeshed in sacrificial offerings, if not obligations.

 Elsewhere people sacrifice to deities which they connect to, including Ogun, Olokun,Yemoja, all of which investigations showed still have active priests watching as gatemen in their (the gods) continuous existence. To further buttress the import of these deities and sacrifices in Benin Kingdom and even other parts of the country, the people of Ikhuenebo in Uhumwonde Local Government Area of Edo State, recently, vowed never to cede any of their shrines to the people of Iguomo. Iguomo had claimed that the land, where over twenty shrines are located in Ikhuenebo community, belongs to them. The chief priest of Ikhuenobo, Chief Enawakponmwhem Aighobahi, who took Sunday Vanguard round the shrines, said they will rather die than give up the shrines. He narrated, “Our shrines were founded by Oba Ewuare the Great who led Benin Kingdom from 1440-1473. Where I am standing now, Oba Ewuare is the founder of this Okwuainebenaka shrine. This shrine is number two in the hierarchy of all Okwaihe in Ikwe. We have been here since over one thousand years ago, we are not strangers. You can see the structure of the shrine. I am the Ohen; among the top 16 Ohen chief priests, I am the second in hierarchy. 

The senior one is at Ewiekoyu. I am a descendant of Ohiobonikwe on that lineage because the title is hereditary. So it came to us as a shock that Iguomo community said that the whole of Ikhuobo land belongs to them”. One could see that the community had not relented in their efforts to give the gods what belongs to them through daily sacrifices. This observation led Sunday Vanguard to Kemwinkemwin market, as the line where the sacrificial materials is called in Oliha and Ekiosa markets. The visit was quite revealing. Sunday Vanguard went with a Bini interpreter, Ogieva Oyemwenosa, because those who deal in these materials are elderly women who are traditionalists and don’t speak English. It was learnt that the materials are used for sacrifices both for good and evil, while those who deal in them are also pure traditionalists who worship different gods.

Walking round Kémwinkémwin could be scary because you see the skulls of monkey, owl, pigeon,sparrow, hyena, live tortoise and their skulls too.

Any customer around the line definitely came to buy one sacrificial object or another. Foreigners also come from Europe and America to purchase these things because Sunday Vanguard was informed that some white people also worship Olokun (river goddess). At the Kemwinkemwin line of Oliha market, 76-year-old Madam Christianah
Oliha explained some of the materials to Sunday

Vanguard: “What I am holding now are the Azáolokun, Adá and the Ebèn, used for worshipping
Olokun. This one is Uleko, someone that has had his bath with juju is the one that wears it. I have taken that bath, so I am free to wear it. What about native chalk. What is it used for? “Native chalk (Orhue) is used for juju dance; it can be ground and eaten. 

When you grind it, you put it in your hand and use it to praise God. Whether you go to church or you
serve juju, when you pour it out in your hand, you add salt to it and you use it to praise God to guide
you and your family. What about cowries? “Ikpigho (cowries) are used to worship Olokun.

We use them for good things, we don’t throw them away. You can use them for Orunmila (god served
with white clothes), you can use it for Sángo, and you can also use it to plant evil. How long have
these things been in existence? “It has been long, over two hundred years. I grew up to meet them.

When I was growing up, Anini (Benin coin used those days for transactions) was used to buy
things. Initially, cowries were being used for transaction. From the cowries, we started using
Anini. It was the Anini that I grew up to meet. From Anini, we moved to Ekpini. All of them are here. From
Ekpini, we started using Kobo. Cowries were used for transaction during the time of my forefathers.

Alligator pepper “It is used when one wants to perform a juju ceremony. Alligator pepper mixed
with Afòr, native chalk (Òrhue) and ash (Emuè) is used to clean abomination. With native pepper,
you use it to cleanse yourself before you start the juju ceremony. This is what was applicable in the
days of old