By Uduma Kalu
Introduction
Would the warriors of Ohafia inter their late Udumaeze with human heads as was being rumoured?
It was an ancient tradition. I wanted to know. So, I set out to find out.
It was a fearful journey, and rumours were rife. There were denials too. At the end, I was at the.monarch's graveside and was among the very few let in or that smuggled in to see the remains of the late Ohafia king lowered into the grave that afternoon of July 6 2024. It marked the climax of the burial proper that began July 3rd. There had been traditional rites before then.
Forty Six Years Without Udumaeze
What I saw was fearful. For forty six years, Ohafia nation, a boisterous town in Abia state and one of the most important black history makers, was without a monarch. Imagine a column of ants without a leader- rudderless. That was Ohafia. The reason was simple. Acrimony and greed, hunger to dominate powered by revisionism of an already settled traditional inheritance ruled the land. With this, the people were thrown into confusion. Every community wanted to be a head. Things fell apart and nobody was willing to listen to anybody. The falcon, they said, could not hear the falconer.
The beneficiaries were the Ohafia neighbours. Politically, the people, irrespective of their population and popularity, received only crumbs from government and institutions.
Imaga's Emergence
But once Prof Emmanuel Ume Lekwa Imaga emerged, the royal tussles calmed down. His emergence was seamless and without rancour. Or so we were told. He ruled for 14 years. Within these years, Ohafia witnessed its fastest development. The years of the locusts seemed over. Though colonialism had a hand, in terms of granting extra powers to an otherwise ordinary custodian of the people's authority, just a first among equals, the royal rumble sought to arbitrarily disinherit and destroy an age old system of inheritance instituted for centuries at the seat of the traditional headquarters of Ohafia, Achichi in Elu Ohafia, from which compound, Ndi Imaga, the head of Ohafia emerges.
Ohafia in World History
The position of the Udumaeze was made more powerful during the warrant chief period of the colonial era. Made juicy by government, the Udumaeze stool became attractive. And that came with the royalty crises that rocked the community over the decades.
Suddenly, the news was agog that Ohafia had a king. It was nostalgic, reminiscent of those days of yore Ohafia fought wars, established their territories and for others like the ubiquitous Aro towns all over Igboland and beyond. Yes, Ohafia, arguably, had the largest traditional land army in Africa and through the slave wars, contributed to the huge Igbo presence in the USA and in the New World. Sad as slavery is today, it is a fact that Ohafia played a significant role.
The Man, Imaga
Imaga, a retired University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu campus professor of management sciences, was a UN adviser, educational director, economist, agriculturalist, researcher, former head of Department of Management.
Imaga did not become the Ohafia monarch overnight.
In a tribute to him, an Ohafia chieftain and historian, Nze Uche Uche Ohafia, said Imaga first became the head, ezieogo, the Ebiri of his Elu Ohafia community, then the eze, (Udumaeze) of his autonomous community, Isiama. He would later become the Ezieogo Ohamoha, Udumaeze Ohafia Ancient Kingdom and Chairman of the Council of Ohafia Monarchs (Onoko Nde Ezieogo Ohafia, from 2010 to 2014.
He was the first in Ohafia to hold the three positions at a time, reenacting the 1910 Ohafia Countship Scheme of his grandfather, Ezieogo Imaga Agwunsi Lekwa of 1910-1917 in 2013 at Achichi.
Udumaeze Imaga
Udumaeze Imaga rebranded the Ohafia Council of Monarchs and its constitution in 2016. He settled the prevalent titles for the kingdom's towns.
Imaga settled raging inheritance conflicts in Amuma, Ibina(Ihenta), and was in 2018, presented with the certificate and staff of office as the Udumaeze Isiama before becoming Udumaeze Ohafia.
As Udumaeze Ohafia, he managed with deft, the various chieftaincy and communal crises in Akanu, Okagwe, Amaekpu, Ebem, Eziafor, Amangwu, Okon, Nkwebi, Nd Aku etc. He was confronted with youth restiveness, Fulani herders' and farmers' clashes, youth confontation with security forces, burning and destruction of public property, all of which he managed well. He united Ohafia and gave the people a united political vision which has yielded some fruits today. His vision, as attested to by the lawyer, Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, was to see Ohafia in its rightful place in Abia and Nigeria.
Imaga's deftful leadership led to the resusitation of some community development associations and others such as corporative societies, clubs, political groups etc. Imaga was honest and kind. He was democratic and ruled with fear of God. Before he died, he wrote a treatise on Ohafia calling for peace. His life and times are seen as like his progenitor's, Uduma Ezema Atita Akpo- honest and incorruptible.
Ohafia, an Origin
Ohafia, which traces its origin from the Anioma of the old Benin Empire is today a territory of twenty six towns with Elu Ohafia as traditional headquarters. During its migration from about 13th century or so to today's Ohafia, the group settled in several places such as Ndoni, Andoni, Ibeku etc. After settling in its present place, its offspring went on to establish several teritories such as Umunze in Anambra, Lokpanta, in Abia state, Ndumeze and Odume in Enugu, towns in Imo, Ngwa, among many others too numerous to mention, in far away Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Cameroon etc.
And some of these kinsmen came to empathsise with their kiths and kins, Ohafia. Indeed, Ohafia, if historically placed, should be highly classed in global discourse.
Search for a Human Head
In spite of all these accolades and accomplishments of Imaga, I was afraid, and I sought to know. Would the Ohafia inter their monarch with human heads?
It was a Christian burial, no doubt, and totally different from what was expected. What was expected? Warriors and fearful masquerades, men of might and candour, terrible as days of yore, menacing and terrifying everyone. But the Church was where the Udumaeze was laid.
One of his cabinet members and bosom friends, Prince Chukwuma Kalu Udensi, says of Imaga, " In no unmistakable terms, I should proudly say that I have worked with Udumaeze since his coronation as the Ebiri of Elu Ohafia till date. His period of reign was very peaceful amongst his people. On January 17th, 2024, he answered the last call of the Almighty and joined his ancestors.
"The late Ebiri of Elu Ohafia, His Royal Paramountcy Ezie Ohafia Udumaeze, Prof. E. U. I. Imaga lived as a Christian and died a Christian. His close associates were found in the church and his close circle of friends were there too. Most students whom he lectured in the university and led by tradition were also there. He lived examplary and virtous Christian life and was a worthy example for all of us. "
So, which would prevail, the headhunt tradition or the church? That was the question on my mind when I received a call from my friend and brother, Mr. Nwachukwu Nmaju, to attend the funeral and satisfy my curiosity. His motivation led me to unravel the Ohafia of the future.
Christianity and Ohafia Tradition
So, I set out that July 6 morning to witness the royal interment of the most powerful and dreaded monarch of the Igbo, the Udumaeze of Ohafia.
But it was an anti climax. The funeral was a mass at the Presbyterian Church, the first church in Ohafia from which others spread out in that place. The church is dominant among people of the Cross River basin. Today, with combined efforts of the church headquarters in Calabar, the church is all over the country. The Ohafia, are perhaps, its largest adherents.
The monarch's casket was laid at the space before the pulpit. It was covered with his red professorial gown, not Ohafia traditional regalia. I was shocked. The sermon was mainly centred on unity and peace as Imaga was a man of peace. And so the peace should continue.
It was a large turn out. And the personalities were intimidating. Prelate emerituses presiding priests, the popular evangelist, Dr Uma Ukpai, Deputy Governor Ikechukwu Emetu and his ex counterpart, Dr Ude Oko Chukwu. Rep. Ibe Okwara Osonwa, Assemby member Etiokwe, Ibeku representative, Chief BB Apugo.
They clergy prayed and praised the late monarch and charged the people to ensure peace and unity in the land.
Yet, there were masquerades, some from afar, most from Ohafia and its environs. The most ubiquitous were the ekpe masquerades. I counted at least ten of them from different Ohafia towns of the host community, Elu, Ndi Uduma Ukwu, Oboro, Warrior troupea and their stubborn pots, painted red, yellow and black, decorated fearfully, the popular Ohafia war dance troupes everywhere, the Akpan and their oshimoshim, the ekpe of Umuahia, war troupes carrying war pots ringed with plastic skulls in remembrance of a time past, fearful looking men in dark pants, roughly painted faces, fire burning from earthen bowels in their hands, all painted black.
A Masculine Burial
Still, it was a church burial, but there were rumours that human heads would be interred with the monarch. I was determined to confirm this rumour and report it.
So, I kept close watch on the burial rites and rituals well after the church service at the Elu cathedral.
Then, the long journey began. There was a sort of guard of honour by different troupes along the way. Warriors in solitary places doing their pantomines, like mannequins, standing tall and still, wailing in loud voices as the casket drove by. Some were all in black, with matchets, blackened war caps of okpu agu, their eyes red, hands carrying plastic skulls. And the music acolyte, flutist or drummer or both accompanied them. Some of the warriors were alone without music acolytes. And they were everywhere. Women troupes were there.
But the burial of an Udumaeze in essence showed that it was a warrior's funeral. Terrible things appeared but they were all part of the drama of entertainment to escort the spirit home to its ancestors, or so it seemed.
And it was indeed a masculine event. I heard it everywere,.. Ndi ikom, ndi ikom. Men, strong men, said everywhwre in praise of the war troupes.
The Motorcade
I went on with the motorcade. The roads were neat, tarred and beautiful. I had never been to Elu for decades and never really experienced the town in the real sense of the word. But I liked what I saw, though it was just the outskirts of the town. The inner town was rural and untarred. At least, the way to the monarch's home was so till we got to Achichi at Ndi Imaga compound, home of the Ohafia monarchy.
Achichi Ohafia
The Achichi is a national monument. It marks Ohafia founding fathers' first meeting place, having first settled at Ugwumgbo, a boundary between Ebem and Elu, before spreading out. it is said that as their father, Ezema Atita got old and was taken to Asaga by his first son, Ukpai, the first son, Uke, had gone off to Amuke, among others that left, the youngest and fourth son, Uduma, moved the relics of the group to Elu and founded the place now housing the Achichi and their relics. They had cleared the bush, placed some stones and settled.
Today, as I looked, there was nothing special there. It waa just a low bush protected by a low fence and a black iron gate. A befitting structure was built by a politician. In it was an ikoro donated by an Isiugwu Ohafia war general, Nna Ogbuka Agbala. I went into the storey building, the Ndi Imaga Obu and looked around. Some cultural dancers were getting dressed.
I stepped out to the back. I wanted to see something, something strange that made the Achichi historical. I went behind the obu to see. But the Achichi was walled with a rope blocking the back entrance. As I looked, trying to go further, a young man carrying some soup and garri shouted at me. Visitors were not allowed in there.
I was surprised. Am I a stranger? I, from Ohafia, a stranger? . Yes, the man responded. I was a stranger. Not even an Ndi Imaga person was allowed into the hallowed innards of the Achichi. Only those of Ndi Imaga Uwa, a sub unit of Ndi Imaga, were allowed. They were the ones that sacrificed in there. Was it a shrine? Why? The young man said it was how he saw it. What made the place tick, I probed. It was how the ancestors packaged it, he said and left for his meal.
The Frenzy.
Outside, the dances continued. The motorcade continued. And I was behind the vehiicle carrying the casket. It stopped. Hundreds of people mingled with the masquerades. It was a gridlock, a frenzy, all musical instruments beating at their heights, and at the same time. Loud and deafening. Which would you dance? Which would you comprehend?
It was chaos and noise. The cannons roared. The air rioted. The dance was full of violence, men with brooms hitting one another in their ekpe dance. Yes, among some Ohafia communities, the ekpe troupes flog one another unlike ekpe Isiugwu. In Isiugwu, only the ekpe flogs.
Everywhere was agog with festivity. The motorcade was waiting for instruction but none was coming. No one was there to address them. The arena was full of human traffic. The funeral bearers, Apams, seemed confused. There was no one to direct them, or so it seemed. So, the handlers waited. The crowd waited. The motorcade waited. And the masquerades, the different dance troupes and the crowd mingled, lost in their frenzy.
Youth Take Over
. Then I heard a cry, the type you hear when a crowd wants to undertake a collective action. An invocation. I stopped and looked up towards the motorcade having gone down with an ekpe masquerade towards the Imaga route to the momarch's.
I asked what was happening. The casket was in the air. The youth of Elu had lifted up the casket. The Apams staff were helpless. They were warned to steer clear or they would regret it. This warning came with fear. And the rumours were back, stronger, even, that human heads were being procured for the monarch's funeral.
I followed the crowd trooping down with the casket, listening to the din and noises of the crowd, trying to pick words to lead me to anything suspicious.
The youth more than ten, bore the casket on their shoulders, their hands holding the casket. They were not in any particular attire but in their normal dresses of jeans, T shirts and shirts showing that it was an impromptu action. A planned bearing of the casket usually involved warriors in their regalia of onugwe, war caps, knives, painted bodies, omu, with the war dance troupe, Iri Agha, behind.
But this was a disorganised group of young men led by one Olugu. Here, a tired youth would go, another would join as they bore the monarch homewards to his resting place.
Homeward Journey
But it was not a straight journey. It was a dangling movement. They would dash forward, swerve sidewards, backwards suddenly and forward again. It continued in such a masquerade movement as they journeyed to the monarch's.
The crowd increased and surged forward. I surged with them too till we got to the monarch's, which, you may say was splendid. It was a storey building with an outward bungalow on the left. It had a tall black gate. The compound was paved and filled with crowd and activities. The building was in red and green.
Still, the crowd surged. Men and women, children, teens, strangers and natives. It appeared there were no taboos against women, children and strangers who used to be barred from such inner burials of a monarch. But here, women and all were in the burial place.
The Imaga Family
Though home, the young men refused to drop the casket. It was a journey of about five hundred metres. They started roving round the compound with the casket on their shoulders, like one possessed by an overpowering spirit which directed them.
They eventually dropped it at the entrance of the musoleum that would house the monarch. Still, they refused to go. They wanted to be pacified with drinks. But the young prince that apoeared made excuses. He did not want any drinks or rowdiness there. Yes, it was an Ohafia burial but he was his father. And the family gets the upper hand here. He was booed by the young men.
The Grave, the Burial
At last, the youth were chased away and the Chirstian priests came in. I joined tbe family into the room. We were many surrounding the grave. The priest, an Ohafia man, began to pray and sing. The casket was on a wooden board covering the grave. No sand there, meaning a slab would be used to cover up the top. The gown was no more.
Now, the grave. It was time to lower the casket into it. The Apams sraff unlocked the belt holding the two poles beside the grave, and the casket started to descend until it hit the bottom of the grave and stopoed.
Darkness visible
There was no light, except for the video cameras'. The priest read with his assistant's phone's torch. The generator was off as there was no electricity yet in Ohafia. A relation of the monarch had sacked many people out of the room, including the cameramen and journalists. I had tapped him to stop it as it would send a wrong signal to the world. It was a good advice as the journalists were not only given uninhibited access to the graveside, their video camera lights were helpful for the burial.
The Grave
It was a six- foot deep grave, the walled blocks plastered and painted white. Nothing else. Just hollow. No human head. Nothing in it at all. The cameras snapped. Tbe videos videoed. And the priest asked that the sand- to-sand ritual be performed. The children did. Only three persons were allowed.
The Priest's Warning
It was over. And the priest warned. 'We have said our prayers. The Udumaeze has been laid to rest. The only thing remaining is to pour sand on him.'
He looked at the monarch's brother directing events and warned again. "Nothing should be put inside this grave again. ".
We understood him. He meant no human heads or juju should be put in there. The brother promised nothing else would be put in there again.
The priest was not satisfied. He repeated, "Nothing else should be put inside this grave." The man promised again to do as the priest said. But the grave would be half filled as traditional burial continued in the next four days.
Outside, rough boys were talking about human heads still, saying heads were in the grave. Heads would be cut. Heads had been cut. And all that. But I was there and there was no head.
Sideways, some young men were packing sand from a heap to half fill the grave.
A New Ohafia
I left and joined the other crowd at the reception venue at the Central school field. But I was still not satisfied.
Was the family trying to make the priest feel good? Would a head be dropped later into the grave?
No, my conviction that no head would be dropped into the grave was strong. The monarch's background as academic, diplomat, scholar and christian mattered.
His family, friends etc really mattered. Even the sort of burial, christian, mattered.
Ohafia was not Ohafia of the early 20th century. It was a 21st century environment, with exposed and highly educated monarchs. The days of using human heads to accompany a revered icon were over. And my survey later on confirmed that.
No gain in those killings any more, many of the interviewees told me. It even brought curses and misery to those
Credit: Ohafia Daughter
killers and their generations. . The new Ohafia was trying to shed the murderous years and would not return to them, I was told.
And that was my feeling as I left. But were they just rhetorics?
Credit: Google
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