By Collins Nweke
After years of either speaking from both sides of the mouth or outright refusal to comment, the Area Police Commandant
for Ibusa Police Command, in Oshimili North Local Government of Delta State has clarified the actions of the officers of his Command over the deity, Ogwugwu-Uja.
It’s a traditional practice in Ibusa whereby pre-teenage or teenage male children are ‘chosen’ to serve the Chief Priest as heir apparent to the traditional throne and the forceful circumcision of sisters of the Child Chief Priest.
Declining to go into specifics, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Solomon Iriemi, admitted that failure of the Police Force to protect victims of the traditional practice remains a contradiction and a huge challenge.
“You may look at this from the perspective of clash of modernity and ancient practice. As Area Command, we have an obligation to cultivate and maintain cordial relationship with the traditional rulers but also, to protect the human rights of citizens.
“It is obvious that the law takes precedence over traditional practices and we are, therefore, obliged to step in when any law is contravened. The challenge is that so far, no victim has managed to show evidence of any law being broken,” the police boss said.
Confronted with the recent and specific cases of Master Tobechukwu Jude Nweke ( 11 years) and his 9 year old younger sister, Joan Nnamaka Nweke, who were sought after for the traditional ritual but their parents, who are known staunch Christians, resisted strongly leading to all manner of torture, the DPO declined to comment, saying, “The NPF does not comment on individual cases but I can assure you that all matters in the nature that you have described are investigated in collaboration and consultation with the traditional rulers and if anyone is found to have contravened the law, actions will be taken” Asked how many cases his Command has prosecuted since inception or at least under his watch, the DPO declined to provide details. Meanwhile information available to us has it that apart from the notorious Nweke saga, there are over the past 20 years no less than 5 reported incidents, one of which resulting in the death of the 5 year old sister of the child Chief Priest due to complications from the gruesome circumcision she was put through. The child Chief Priest disappeared two years later, unknown today whether he is dead or still alive hence the hunt for a new one.
The Nweke case is said to be complicated by two factors. First, the child’s grandfather is a member of the community Traditional Ruling Council and by implication, one of the custodians of the age-long practice. He is suspected to have given his tacit approval and suspected to regard the choice of his grandchildren as an honour.
Having fallen out with his son, Mr Esogbuzie Nweke, the father of the children in question, made overtures to the High Priest, Ohene, to soft-pedal on his family but was promptly abducted, excommunicated from the community for two market weeks but released unharmed and placed under “house watch”.
Secondly, Esogbuzie Nweke and his wife, Mrs Judith Nweke, are known serious Christian believers. Indeed Mrs Judith Nweke is the President of the Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) in a Lagos archdioceses who had announced in her inaugural speech that she is resolved to confront such practices against children and the girl child.
Her husband, resisting the abduction of the Child Chief Priest led to his torture and release to enable him produce the child for consummation of the traditional ritual. When he absconded and would not produce the child on the appointed date, a delegation was sent to Lagos, their base, to fetch them. The Nwekes are said to have escaped out of the country, possibly to the United States of America.
Lawyer and human rights activist, Olukayode Ajulo of Castle of Law Chambers has described the approach of the police in the matter as that of “helplessness and abysmal failure on the part of the authorities to provide basic protection for citizens for exercising their rights to freedom of religion.
“What we are dealing with here is a case of the helpless authorities conniving with the traditionalists to attempt to bully the victims into submission,” he asserted, adding that “the difficulty in prosecuting a case of this nature in a court of law is the fact that independent, free and fair investigation cannot be guaranteed. Witnesses are terrified to testify, fearing reprisals from the gods.”
All efforts to trace them have so far failed.
* Nweke lives in Warri Delta State