Amnesty in Eleme Tradition
By
Ollorwi Osaro
In discussing Amnesty in Eleme Tradition it is wise we
attempt to explore the basic idea(s) underlying amnesty. Whether and why Eleme
tradition makes provision(s) for amnesty? What are the types of amnesty
provided for in the Eleme tradition? Who is qualified for amnesty under the
Eleme tradition? Who institutes or grants amnesty under the Eleme tradition? And
how is such amnesty managed?
Amnesty is a pardon extended by an authority to a group or class of persons for
offenses against the society. It is the act of a sovereign power officially
forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet
been convicted. Amnesty includes more than pardon, it eliminates all
legal or traditional remembrance of an offense. True amnesty entails pardoning
past violations without changing the laws violated.
Why Amnesty?
An amnesty may be extended when the authority decides that
bringing citizens into compliance with a law is more important than punishing
them for past offenses. Amnesty after a war helps end a conflict and unite a
people. While laws against treason, sedition, desecration and sacrileges, etc.
are retained to discourage future criminalities, it makes sense to forgive past
offenders, after the enemy no longer
exists.
Amnesty can also be used to get people to turn in contraband
or weapons, as in the case of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme of the Federal
Government of Nigeria and the Rivers State Amnesty Programme of His Excellency
Chief Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (CON) where cultists and other criminals
were encouraged to turn-in their weapons in exchange for amnesty.
There are several advantages of using amnesty in the
society. They include:
1.
Avoiding expensive prosecutions
(especially when massive numbers of violators are involved);
2.
Prompting violators to come forward
who might otherwise have eluded authorities; and
3.
Promoting reconciliation between
offenders, victims’ relations and the society.
To achieve the above objectives there are certain
obligations required of the parties to an amnesty programme such as:
1. Willingness and readiness of the
beneficiaries to surrender their arms,
2. Readiness to unconditionally renounce
militancy, cultism, etc. as the case might be,
3. Express endorsement of an
undertaking to this effect by the beneficiaries.
In return,
the authority is expected to pledge its commitment to institute programmes to
assist the disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of
repentant offenders.
Are these
processes or requirements part of Eleme Traditional Amnesty programme? The
answer is NO.
The Eleme
Traditional Amnesty is the way and manner in which a pardon or forgiveness extended by the traditional authority to a person
or group of persons for offenses against the community is managed based
on the culture and traditional of the people.
The
traditional amnesty programme is not designed to enrich offenders, repentant
criminals or cultists with cash rewards or property possession. Instead, it institutes
forgiveness, builds the bridge of peace and provides responsible communal rehabilitation
that integrates offenders back into society.
The Eleme
Traditional Amnesty from inception lacks the capacity to institute the process
for the beneficiaries to willingly surrender their weapons. Instead, the
weapons of crime are left with the offender who voluntarily, chooses on his/her
own volition, to surrender it to the community leadership, discard it or keeps
it for future use.
Secondly,
the tradition did not put in place a framework for the beneficiaries to sign
any formal undertaking. Rather, the entire community acts as witness to the
amnesty and ensures its implementation.
Fortunately,
the above shortcomings are properly handled by the well-defined process of readiness
of the offender to unconditionally renounce bloodshed, militancy, cultism, etc.
as the case might be.
Who Receives
Amnesty in Eleme Tradition?
In Eleme tradition amnesty is usually granted to
someone who has committed a heinous offence deserving of death or banishment
from the community but for which the Oku Nkporon (traditional leadership
council) led by the Oneh Eh Eta decides to pardon after the performance of an
elaborate sacrifice by the Oneh Nkiken (the Traditional Prime Minister) to free
the offender from possible repercussions, cleanse the land and reintegrate him
into society. They include someone who murderers an indigene, kill in war,
during hunting expedition, etc.
Murderer
An example of such offence is murder of an indigene.
If an indigene is kill for whatever reason, unless a royal pardon (amnesty) is granted the murderer will remain in exile
for life. It is an abomination for a murderer to return to the community when
all the processes of traditional amnesty have not been concluded.
Killing in war also requires the same sacrifice to
wash blood from the offender’s eyes and prevent him from further killings at
the slightest provocation.
It is equally believed that if this ritual is not
performed and the necessary sacrifice offered, the land will remain desecrated,
the blood of the victim will continue to hunt the offender and he will
eventually kill again.
Similarly, in Eleme, murder of indigene is known to
plug the community into additional bloodshed thus desecrating the land except purification
rituals are performed to cleanse the land and free the perpetrator from the
wrath of “revengers of blood”.
The Eleme Tradition recognized blood as a curse when
wantonly shed, unless duly expiated. The two prominent revengers of blood
identified by Eleme culture are Almighty God, who is believed must require
human blood from anyone who viciously spills it.
The second is the nearest relatives of the deceased
who must be pacified or appeased to avoid more bloodshed in the community.
It is also a general believe in Eleme that even soldiers
who participate in war and people who defend their community during conflicts
with another community must be subjected to this process to enable them live
normal life and free themselves from the “Revenger of Blood”.
Process of Managing Amnesty in Eleme Tradition
The process of managing amnesty in Eleme tradition
is time consuming, painful and costly. The steps involved include: acceptance
of wrongdoing by the offender, identification of offender and relatives,
identification of victims and relatives, negotiation, administering of
oaths/swearing, sacrifice of peace offering/purification rites and
reintegration of the offender into the community.
1.
Acceptance of Wrongdoing
The offender is
required to show remorse and formerly and publicly accept responsibility for
his actions.
2.
Identification of Offender and Victim Relatives
The traditional leadership must properly
identify the victim’s nearest relatives who must be contacted and involved in
the negotiation process. Amnesty in Eleme is not an arbitrary announcement by
the traditional leadership. It entails painstaking negation involving the
offender’s relatives, the victim’s relatives and the community to achieve a
lasting solution. In fact, it is the offender and his/her relatives that appeal
for amnesty and not the other way round.
3.
Negotiation
This involves bringing the parties
to the negotiating table. Narrating how the people of Eteo managed traditional
amnesty in November, 2016, the Paramount Ruler of Eteo, HRH Emere Emmanuel
Tekara Akobe said, “when it became necessary that the cultists were tired of
killing themselves and needed to turn a new leaf, we the chiefs, initiated the
process of amnesty for them”, he explained.
It could be recalled that on the
night of Saturday October 15, 2016 suspected members of a cult group raided
Eteo community in Eleme, killing scores of people, including a pregnant woman.
The incident which saw a whole family wiped out turned the community into a
ghost town as residents deserted the community to seek refuge in the nearby
towns and villages.
“Through those who were in contact
with them, we set into motion a process of influencing them to see reasons and
then established more direct communication with a view to helping us resolve
the cult violence in Eteo by reaching an agreement”, he pointed out.
“This communication ignited the
process of discovering mutual interest; it created a suitable environment for working
together towards lasting peace in Eteo”, he continued.
“In the process we identified
several options for resolving disagreement between groups of people and placed
values on them, but settled for the Traditional Method, a system that was
widely used by our ancestors and it worked for them effectively”, Akobe said.
4.
Ajija Ritual
Ajija is a term that
generally refers to any sacrifice which gives the offender a chance to confess
and expiate his/her guilt; cleanse the land, and placate and win back the
friendship and approval of the gods, the nearest relatives of the victim and
the society. Ajija is the symbol of the intercession of the community’s
Traditional Prime Minister accompanying and making efficacious the prayer of
the people. As direct descendant of the founder of the community, his words are
law and highly honoured by all citizens, including human beings,
spirit beings, deities and the ancestors that he represents.
Ajija is the core of
all Eleme Traditional Amnesty programmes. If it is absent or ignored for
whatever reason, it means that the whole amnesty programme is mere jamboree and
of no effect both physically and spiritually. It also leaves the revengers of
blood (God and the nearest relatives of the deceased) with no other alternative
than to revenge the wanton bloodshed at the appropriate place and time, and under
suitable circumstance. Ignoring Ajija definitely brings about more bloodshed in
the offenders family and in the community sooner or later. The history of blood
seeking revenge and troubling the land abounds everywhere.
There are many types of
Ajija in Eleme tradition. Few among are Pregnancy Ajija, Sexual Ajija, Murder
Ajija, Killing Ajija, etc. Ofu Mmi Adε
is unique in its character. All these types of Ajija have their peculiar
versions of Ojuri Ajija Rituals and Ͻlͻ Ajija Sacrifices, which are beyond
the scope of this essay.
5.
Purification Rituals
Apart from the expiatory
ritual which gives the offender a chance to confess and expiate his guilt and propitiatory
sacrifice which are made to win back the friendship and approval of the gods,
the nearest relatives of the deceased and the society a purification sacrifice
must be made to cleanse the land, especially the scene of the murder, sexual
offence, etc. This Ajija is known as Peace Offering. It is offered to cleanse the land .This is
the ritual observances whereby Eleme person is formally absolved from the taint
of uncleanness; especially those connected with blood that was wantonly shed.
It also include making
of a sacrificial atonement to cleanse the shed blood from eyes of the
perpetrator to appease the number one revenger of blood – God, who must require
of all BLOOD, and avert a curse from falling upon those who wantonly shed blood
and the land.
Because blood is the
mysterious sacredness which belongs to life, it becomes a curse when wantonly
shed. Once shed, it torments the offender, the land and leads to more bloodshed.
It is to prevent this scenario that the sacrifice known as Ofu Mmi Adε is also
performed before the offender is allowed to return to the community to live
normal life.
6.
Administration of Oath/Swearing
Once the relevant Ajija
sacrifices have been offered, the next stage is swearing in the name of a Deity
by the parties involved. This step involves the procurement of the Deity,
offering of necessary sacrifices at the Town-Square in the presence of the
entire community on an appointed day and time and publicly swearing.
The swearing in the
name of a known deity at the town-square, at the agreed day and time blows off
the offender’s cover and brings him/her face-to-face with the relatives of the
deceased. Although risky, it helps to consolidate the amnesty or forgiveness processes
which were initiated some weeks or months ago and to pacify aggrieved bereaved
relatives.
It reassures the
deceased relatives that the traditional leadership is concerned about the dead
and has taken necessary steps according to our tradition to pacify the
deceased’s spirit, appeal to them for forgiveness and cleanse the desecrated
land.
It encourages the
revengers of blood to truly and totally forgive the offender and let the
ancestors tamper justice with mercy.
It builds trust,
credibility, and reciprocation; promotes understanding, and deals with the
issues rather than persons.
It ensures commitment
by all parties to its implementation and maintenance, publicizing it
accordingly.
Where swearing in the name of a deity is frowned at
due to the compromising and manipulative tendencies of the elders, Eleme
Tradition favours “Nkpͻrͻ Eta”, which is the symbol of sovereignty, power,
peace, unity and justice as instrument of swearing. Many families and linage in
Eleme have been extinct, destroyed or devastated for swearing Nkpͻrͻ
falsely.
Swearing provides the framework for implementation
of the purification and reintegration rituals, which is the final level of
traditional amnesty programme.
Comparing Modern and Traditional Amnesties
Both
traditional and modern amnesties aim to officially
forgive certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet
been convicted. In the past both the traditional and modern leaderships have
demonstrated the political will to manage amnesty but lack the socio-economic
frameworks and resources to ensure its proper implementation, monitoring and
controls needed for it success. These shortcomings are responsible for the failure
of all conceived amnesties in recent times.
The
traditional amnesty lacks the important ingredients of a well-defined amnesty
programme which are Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of the
offenders into normal life. Although, it tries to demobilize and reintegrate
the offenders, it lack formal approach and there is no explicit procedure and
institution for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
The
traditional leadership is just peace makers and has little or no stake in the
amnesty programme. They buy nothing into it and buy nothing out of it.
It also
lacks the institution(s) to properly coordinate, fund and promote concerted
development strategy for the community with the aim of addressing
underdevelopment as a major driver of instability in the community.
In the
case of cultism, the traditional system lacks the strategy to disarm cultists
as there are no frameworks in place in which available arms and ammunition can
be retrieved from the cultists thereby reducing the volume of arms in
circulation and for re-armament.
The
traditional institution lacks the capacity to make provisions for skill
development, training, job placement and employment for the beneficiaries of
the traditional amnesty programme. This shortcoming makes it possible for the
repentant cultists and criminals to return to life of crimes worse than they
were before the amnesty.
No
provision for nonviolence transformational training
tailored to extinguish the belief of the cultists in violence or provide them a
more powerful alternative – nonviolence activities.
There are also no follow up with
cordon and search operation in the area and as well as any legislative
framework to sanction the possession of arms by anyone particularly members of
the groups who were disarmed.
Because the deity is the ultimate
arbitrator here, groups and individuals in the community are prevented from
participating in mopping up arms cache in their communities.
The disarmed cultists and their leaders
are similarly not compelled to sign any legally binding undertaking never to
conduct an act of insurgency against the state or be found bearing arms in the
community. The oath they took is mere pronouncement to cease fire, which in most
cases are short-lived and breakable as the deities are known today to lose
their efficacy due to the growing influence of Christianity and Western
Education.
Unfortunately though, and with the exception
of bonds swore to by the cultists, most of these steps were not initiated as a
follow up to the disarmament of the groups in Eleme.
The aim of demobilization is to
disband the armed group by breaking down its command structure and dispersing
the members thereby making remobilization difficult if not impossible. The
Traditional Amnesty programme lacks the ability to achieve this objective. The
various threats coming from the commanders of the rival former armed groups and
the ease with which they converge in Ebubu and sack the city are evident
indications that the command structures still remain intact and members can
easily be mobilised.
We noted in Eteo, Ebubu, Alesa and
other Eleme communities that communications with the cultists are done through their
commanders. This arrangement reinforced pre-existing loyalties and command
relationship which fostered dependency on their commanders. It makes
remobilization easy, fast and cheap.
The absence of a well-defined
reintegration system is a serious setback to the entire process of traditional
amnesty. After demobilization (sic) what become of these ex-cultists? This
question, the traditional system makes no provisions, thus worsening the
security situation after a short while.
These
cultists depend on guns and other weapons for their livelihood. When the guns
are not collected from them what does the system expect them to do next? What
alternatives does the system give to them to encourage them turn their back on
the guns? Perhaps, this is the main reason why they were not requested to
return their arms because it has nothing to give to them as alternative means
of livelihood? Besides, the cultists are reluctant to return their weapons for
fear of being stripped of everything and given nothing in return – no
empowerment programmes, no development projects, nothing in sight, no hope to
live for.
Importantly,
swearing in the name of a Deity or invocation of Juju is no longer in vogue. In
the time past, this option worked effectively due to the prevailing belief and
attachment to worship of deities and ancestral spirits. Today, everybody claims
to be Christian or Muslim but wicked than the devil in all ramifications.
Secondly,
the system is full of flaws and subject to several manipulations by
compromising-community leaders who are known to invoke juju round the community
in the day and go behind to revoke same in the night due to their complicity in
the whole episode.
These
are also some of the factors that make it impossible for the restoring of
peace, safety and security in the community using the instrumentalities of Eleme
Traditional Amnesty Programme.
Amnesties
in Nigeria have always failed not because of absence of political-will on the
part of the government but the authorities inability to categorize amnesties,
identify all parties to a particular amnesty, and encourage them to play their
respective roles actively. The non-incorporation of the traditional aspects of
offering the appropriate sacrifices to obtain pardon for the offender,
restoring and reintegrating the offender of blood into the community, and
cleansing the land as part of the amnesty process by the government leaves wide
room for reoccurrence of violence and bloodbath at the slightest
incitement. The Chinese, Indians,
Koreans, Japanese, Britons, Russians, Germans, Israelis, and so on honour their
culture above every other thing. Their culture is their teacher! If government is too busy to remember that
aspect or too scared to dabble into it, what are our traditional institutions
doing? What are the family elders doing to rescue their children?
Conclusion
Africa
is a continent of cultures. Nigeria prides itself as giant of Africa because of
its wide cultural diversity. What makes a people thick and unique is their
culture. All cultures have a way and manner of dealing with nasty bloodshed.
Different cultures define different ways of offering pardon, restoring and
reintegrating an offender of blood into the community, and cleansing the land. These
issues and the processes involved are usually not for public consumption but
the peace, stability and security that are obtained therefrom benefits all.
Therefore,
elders (African Elders) of the various families and communities whose children
were granted amnesty in the past or recently should as a matter of importance
do the needful to save our children and communities from further bloodshed.
Blood is not water, blood is not wine. Blood is life. The potency of blood is
incomparable. Blood sees, hears, speaks, acts, and have the powers to fight
back except properly placated. Blood is God in man. No one ever sheds blood and
goes scot-free.
If those who spilled blood and are living normal life, or walking
freely on the streets, tell you what they pass through to be so free you will
do everything humanly possible to avoid bloodshed. Let us do something to help
the government to reclaim all our children from the devil!
References:
1.
Bryan
A. Gardner (ed.). 2009. Blacks Law Dictionary (9th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West
2.
Ollorwi Osaro (2012). Community Policing and Crime Control in
Pre-Colonial Eleme: Issues & Perspectives, Nigerian Institute of Security,
Port Harcourt
3.
Ollorwi Osaro (2016) http://www.ollorwi.com.ng Addressing
Insecurity in Eleme a Memorandum Submitted to CTC
Chairman of Eleme Local Government, Hon. Johnson O. Nwogu.
Contacts:
3.
+234 (0) 8036694027
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