Influential 'madams' who traffic girls from Edo State to Europe, America and other parts of the world, otherwise known as madams, are now said to be jittery about the curse placed recently by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II on human traffickers and those who aid them.
And the Oba’s curse is no respecter of age or status. The story is also told of Ikoka, a community in Ovia South West Local Government Area, which remains yet a remote village in spite of the fact that it serves as a host to one of the largest rubber plantations in the country.
It is said that Ikoka village and its people were cursed by Oba Ewuakpe in the 14th Century after the people asked him to work when he asked them for food. The curse he placed on the community, according to historians, is that only their women would experience progress, while houses built in the village would collapse as they are being built and their roads would turn bushy as they are being cleared.
Today, Ikoka is tucked away inside the rubber plantation without an access road to the community. To get to the village, one has to navigate through the rubber plantation. Thus, it is believed that the village is still under the curse of the late Oba.
Residents of Iguomon community in Uhunmwode Local Government Area recently cried out that they were dying from strange ailments because of a curse placed on the community by Oba Erediauwa. Inhabitants of the community had to besiege the Oba’s palace to beg that the curse to be revoked in order to save them from further calamity.
Pa Roland Ugiagbe Okhuorabo, the man who was supposed to be installed as the next Odionwere (the traditional ruler of the community), was quoted as saying that he would not present himself to be installed until the curse is revoked.
The foregoing are pointers to how much the inhabitants of Benin Kingdom hold the Oba’s words in awe. The people see him as God’s representative on earth. All the deities in the land belong to him and consequently are under his directives. His words are law across the state because almost all the traditional rulers in the state and some communities in neighbouring states are princes from the palace.
But besides the Oba, Edo residents are known to fear curses from any juju. For example, when fire gutted the Oba’s market in Benin in 2004, many of the traders came in the morning and found that some thieves had used the fire outbreak as a cover to loot their shops. Adun, promptly summoned Aiyelala worshippers who held a procession round the market, warning whoever had stolen the goods to return them. By the following day, the thieves had returned the goods and placed them at different locations in the market.
The jitters that followed the curses recently proclaimed by Oba Ewuare II on the individuals responsible for the trafficking of female prostitutes from the Benin Kingdom to Europe, America and other parts of the world, would be better understood in the foregoing context.
Recent reports indicate that things are no longer at ease in the camps of pimps, madams and native doctors responsible for trafficking young women from the kingdom to work as prostitutes in foreign lands. Many madams responsible for trafficking young women abroad are said to have been in shock on account of the curses the Oba proclaimed at a ceremony attended by priests from various shrines in the state.
The priests at the said ceremony included the Ohen Okhuae, Ohen Ovia, Ohen noriyekeogba, Ohen Ake, Ohen Niwuo, Ohen Sango, Odionwere, Iwueki the Enigies and native doctors. Some ancient juju and several others known as esusumahi were brought out as instruments for the invocation of the curses.
At the said occasion, the Oba also performed rites that were meant to set trafficked victims free from the various oaths they have been made to swear at various shrines in the state or elsewhere. The Oba also warned native doctors in the kingdom to return whatever items they had collected from the trafficked girls.
In invoking the curses, the Oba said: “From today, we end all the oaths and it will not affect those placed on the oaths. Anybody that walks on Edo land and eats the food cooked with salt and oil will die if they continue to do things that will bring shame to the land.
“The juju will kill those who want to henceforth engage in human trafficking. Even those who go to other places to perform juju will also die. Native doctors should not force girls again, and they should return the things they collected from the girls.” News of the Oba’s action reportedly spread across Europe like wild fire. Checks conducted by our reporter indicated that the ‘madams’ were shocked at the pronouncements. The Oba’s curse created a huge war in Europe between traffickers known as madams and their girls.
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