CHIBUIKE ULOKA (EZE MỤỌ)
One thing I’ve come to realize is this, Nigerians on social media are quick to spark outrage the moment someone associated with African Traditional Religion (ATR) is linked to a crime and insanity. But strangely, that same fire dims when the offender hides under the cloak of other religions or belief systems. Why the selective morality?
It’s disheartening to see supposedly enlightened voices calling for a ban on an entire spiritual practice just because of the repulsive actions of a few deranged individuals. Take the recent incident in Ezeagu, for instance, a clearly mentally unstable man was caught dumping human remains in a septic tank for reasons best known to him and his cohorts as such is not, and can NEVER be Ọdịnani practice; “Our forebears never feasted on the blood of their own. Only the cowards who indulge in such horrors can explain what they seek from shedding human blood, because it was never for reverence, never part of true ancestral worship. That heinous act is not reflective of ATR. It’s not native worship. It’s pure madness. And such a person should be treated as a criminal lunatic, not used as a benchmark to demonize an entire belief system which I belong to.
This is just one in the long list of atrocities committed in the name of religion —across all faiths. Let’s not pretend that the church, mosque, or any other religious space is immune. There are countless reports of mysticism, exploitation, and sinister manipulation within all religious institutions. So, let’s not cherry-pick.
The slogan going back to their roots, is no different from those who preach miracles without substance or salvation without values. Every religion has its extremists. Every belief system has those who twist it to serve dark purposes. It’s not about the religion, rather it’s about the individual or people involved.
As I always say, power is neutral. What matters is who wields it. In the hands of the righteous, power is redemptive and healing. In the hands of the wicked, it becomes destructive. Trying to label African traditional spirituality as evil simply because of a few misfits is not only lazy thinking, but dangerous. It reeks of internalized ignorance.
Our ancestors handed us a sacred way of life, a path of reverence, of communion with nature, of spiritual alignment through elements that are deeply and uniquely ours. There’s a clear distinction between ọgwụ (magical manipulation) and nkọwa okwukwe (spiritual belief). Ọgwụ seeks to bend natural order, while belief honors the divine rhythm of nature.
Every civilization has its dark past, and Igbo cosmology is no exception. Even in the Bible, rituals involving humans were documented: Cain and Abel, Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac. If such practices weren’t familiar in their native spiritual context, those stories wouldn’t even exist. But what’s often ignored is that, centuries ago, our forebears recognized the sanctity of human life. Long before Abraham, they demonised the misuse of spiritual powers and warned against the destructive consequences of mysticism gone rogue.
So, before you judge, understand. Before you condemn, reflect. Our heritage is not your scapegoat. “Deal with the criminals and lunatics who masquerade under the guise of beliefs to commit crimes—they are unknown, even to their own kith and kin.”
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Chibuike Uloka is a proud adherent of African Traditional Practice and a descendant of a Dibịa.