Festival of Curses: A Traditional Crime Control Method in Edo State – Nigeria

Abstract

Festivals and ceremonies are part and parcel of African culture, usually in all its pump, merriment and pageantry. However, with the increasing wave of criminal activities in Nigeria especially in Edo state, festivals and ceremonies are being redefined and conceptualized in practice. Only recently a new festival ‘Festival of Curses’ was brought to the fore in combating crime in Edo state. The study therefore seeks to explain the festival as a traditional mechanism in crime control, the nature of the festival, the factors that led to its emergence in the 21st century, the level of acceptance and its impact in reducing criminal activities in the State. The study employed principally secondary literature and in-depth interviews among a cross section of the Bini. Major findings revealed that immediately after the festival of curses, a lot of criminals in the state besieged the Bini Monarch’s Palace to confess their atrocities; and pleaded for forgiveness. There was an overwhelming acceptance of the festival irrespective of the people’s religious affiliations to Christianity and Islam as a result of the potency and sudden drop in crime during the period. The study concludes that the festival should be taken as a mechanism of crime control and policing in Nigeria.

Zangbeto: The Traditional Way of Policing and Securing the Community among the Ogu (Egun) People in Badagry, Nigeria

“…Informal constraints involved sanctions, denial of speech, taboos, customs and mores. The formal ways involved laws, property rights and unwritten traditional constitutions (Okunola and Ikuomola 2012) However, with the introduction of modern system of government, the function of guiding and controlling interpersonal relationships in the society have been taken over by the modern system of government through the law makers, judiciary, executive arms of government and some established law enforcement agencies, especially, the police.…”

“…Unfortunately, the Nigeria police has been highly criticized by various human rights agencies, community based organizations, the press and the academia for its inability to stem the rising tide of crimes in Nigeria (Okunola and Ikuomola 2012). As a result of this, various alternative means such as the use of vigilante, Oodua People's Congress, Bakassi Boys, Egbesu Boys and Arewa Youth Vanguard, developed and are still being agitated for to serve as means of preventing and controlling crime.…”

“…As a result of this, various alternative means such as the use of vigilante, Oodua People's Congress, Bakassi Boys, Egbesu Boys and Arewa Youth Vanguard, developed and are still being agitated for to serve as means of preventing and controlling crime. For cities without militant groups, other traditional means of crime control exist (Okunola and Ikuomola 2012). However, these alternative means to modern police have been characterized with violence (Hunsu 2012).…”