[dropcap]H[/dropcap]uman rights abuses and violations in the ofokobe communities in particular cut across the entire spectrum of rights. The abuses come in different forms and could be direct or indirect. The inhabitants of the Igbo region are subjected to regular rights abuses and violations by the village culture. The perpetrators of rights violations are hardly or never held accountable or brought to justice due to the myriad of problems besetting the judicial institutions. Besides, there is an apparent lack of trust and confidence in the courts and general apathy towards the judicial processes amongst Nigerians as the civil remedies in law are rarely enforced. Furthermore, the criminal justice system and the judiciary, generally perceived as dysfunctional, are ineffective in bringing this traditionalist involved in crimes and violation of rights to justice due to systemic and institutional corruption, lack of independence of the judiciary, political interference, and so on.
Some of the rights typically violated in the Igbo communities include the right to life, the right to health, the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, the right to equal protection of the law, right to the dignity of human person, right to work, means of livelihood or employment and the right to development and right to sex.
The Igbo is one of the three major tribes occupying the south-eastern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. They have cultural traditions and customs, which help in maintaining their society. Just like the belief systems of other cultural groups; man has designed various institutions and webs of customs that regulate and order his social life. Hunter and Whitten (1976:294) note that “belief systems deal with everything man can imagine.”
A traditional priest who could be a witch doctor who cures those who have been be-witched. A herbalist who knows the powers of many roots and herbs. A diviner who tells fortune, he is consulted before any sacrifice is offered.The chief Priest (Eze mmuo)- He is an official servant of a deity or oracle, who offers sacrifice to the spirits and generally ministers at the shrine.
The coming of Islam and Christianity into Africa had much influence on the African traditional religion in its entirety. The coming of Christianity into Igbo land in 1846 altered the act of living sacrifice most especially the human sacrifice. The Christian Missionaries were able to stop the burying of chiefs with living beings and the act of using human beings as scapegoats. Although some people still offer sacrifices but it’s no longer being celebrated as in the past. Another form of human living sacrifice is humiliation of Lesbians and Gay in the Igboland where human being is consecrated to a deity or shrine. It was a taboo to have any social interaction with a lesbian or gay.
Although the names of these deities and spirits, their method and time of worship vary from society to society, their significance and relevance in traditional observances cut across all the cultural contexts of Africa. The names and worship patterns in any given African society are basically dictated by the culture of the given society. the worship of deities and spirits, hierarchy in the cultural context of ofokobe in obiomangwa in Abia State, South-East Nigeria. Ofokobe ,like any other traditional African society has no classical work or records about her religious practices.
The worshiping of deities and spirits in Ofokobe community has gotten to the climax that even the government cannot protect its citizens against this evil ancient traditional practice.
The case of EBERE CHINYERE ORJIOGBU is a sympathetic one in ofokobe in obiomangwa community because she is the most tortured and humiliated lesbian in the community. In ofokobe community lesbianism/Gay is a taboo and a lot of their citizens have lost their lives through sacrifice to the gods and traditional ritual of the land.
Traditionally in ofokobe community, lesbian people are subjected to ‘corrective rape’ by their families, strangers and vigilantes who believe that homosexuality is a mental illness that needs to be ‘cured’. Sometimes it is done under the cover of darkness or when the pounding of rain on tin roofs muffles the screams, Other times, it is arranged by family members who regularly take the law into their own hands, torturing, gang raping and, murdering lesbians as they are convinced are witches or have been cursed. Even though it is illegal to practice black magic, authorities do nothing or little to stop families consulting sorcerers who perform ritual sacrifices to ‘cure’ their relatives of homosexuality.
In the case of Miss Ebere Chinyere Orjiogbu who is a lesbian, and was caught having sex with one of the wives of the traditional king of ofokobe in obiomangwa , she was locked up in the palace pending when the king and the chief Priest will decide her faith because according to the culture and tradition of ofokobe community , anybody caught in such act will be used for spiritual cleansing of the their land, but Ebere was lucky to escape through the help of her friend Obidiya and some villagers.
According to the chief priest community ,she has defied the land by having sex with the wife of their king and her blood must be used for cleansing of the land or strange things will be happening in the land of ofokobe community.
When our reporter met Ebere at the palace before her escape, Our reporter was highly prohibited by the palace guard from using camera or recorder but was allowed to have a chat with her. Ebere said she has told her story to hundreds of girls in sexual health awareness and LGBT+ workshops in Nigeria last year.
She said that her case has been a complicated one because anytime she reports what she is facing to her life nobody see her as a victim but rather as someone who deserved the torturing she is passing through because she is a lesbian. She believes that her decision to speak out saved her life.
“According to Ebere ,she had a friend who had also been raped, and she felt completely alone, isolated, depressed. She had almost killed herself, ”Ebere said, pausing to fight back her tears.
“I thought of doing the same … But I was also so angry. I didn’t want other girls to go through this, for them to be a victim like me. I wanted to denounce the perpetrators so that it will stop.”
It is not easy, she said. Lesbians in Nigeria live with secrecy and caution every day, communicating via code names and frequently changing the public places where they gather.
“We continue to fight on, even though we’re doubly discriminated – first as women, secondly as lesbians,” Ebere said.
“It’s a real war waged against us,” said Ebere, who regularly receives death threats.
“But we will keep fighting until they are tired … No one will give us freedom. We have to take it.”
When the Grassroots Publishers reporter confronted the Police Chief in Abia State, he was speaking not wanting to take side on this saga and he responded ; “we have an obligation to cultivate and maintain cordial relationship with the traditional rulers but also 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. We confronted him with the recent and specific cases of Miss Ebere Chinyere Orjiogbu who has been undergoing torture, humiliation and traits to her life by her community because she had sex with wife of a king . The Police chief declined to comment, saying “the Nigerian Police Force 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”. When asked how many cases his Command has prosecuted since inception or at least under his watch, the Police Boss declined to provide details.
However, nobody can ascertain the where about of Ebere Chinyere Orjiogbu , after her escape from the palace custody only time shall tell.
By: Ifeoma Maduike