Here is an interesting article I stumbled upon and decided to share with you guys. Please share your thoughts at the end of the post below.
Python kings of Idemili.
How would you feel, waking up to find a python lying beside your bed? What of if you found a snake in your wardrobe? What would you do on opening your door and meeting a shinny skinned python at the entrance? What about a snake crawling freely around in your environment? These and many more are questions many youth corps members posted to Anambra State usually ask one another anytime they are redeployed to their places of primary assignment after the completion of the three weeks National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp.
Most, if not all, have heard of Idemili, a community where a certain species of snake reigns like a king. Idemili, a conglomeration of about 20 towns in the current Idemili North and Idemili South Local Government Areas of Anambra State is one of the ancient communities in Igboland.
There, they treat a royal python known as ‘Eke’ with utmost respect and dignity. In many parts of the world, python is good meat and hunters do take delight in tracking it down, killing it and eating it. Some people, especially the villagers do take delight in eating a dried python as a delicacy with palm wine. But if you do this in the majority of the towns in Idemili, such as Ogidi, Obosi, Ojoto, Urukwu, Umuoji, Eziowelle, Ideani, Uke, Nkpor, Abacha, Abatete, and many others in Igboland, you are trouble. In Idemili people see living with Eke, as the royal python is known and called, as a way of life. Also, it is forbidden to kill it because it is regarded as a sacred animal. The royal python is a python with shinny skin of different colours. In Idemili, Eke is regarded as one of the messengers of god of the land known as Idemili. Hence, it is a taboo to kill it.
Speaking with Saturday Mirror, during a recent visit to some of the towns in Idemili, the Iyesele and traditional Prime Minister of Obosi, Chief Earnest Nwokwu Orjiakor, traced the existence of Eke to the creation of Idemili community. Idemili is one of the gods that founded Idemili community and the community is named after it. Idemili shrine, which we call Nkua is in Obosi. It is a powerful place and before someone becomes the king of this community, he must visit the shrine. It is only the Igwe and the Iyesele that are entitled to visit the shrine before they assume office. It is a very secret shrine and Eke is part of the shrine’ s deities. It is very sacred and we don’ t kill or eat it. Anybody that kills it will be in trouble.
We respect it whenever it comes out, he explained. A h igh ranking chief in Idemili, the Onowu of Obosi, High Chief Anthony Eze Nwabude, said the name, Idemili, was derived from the river that flows through the whole length of the town, while the python called Eke Idemili lives in the river. His words: Since the time we came to this world, what we learn is that Eke Idemili is untouchable and we don’ t eat it in Obosi and in the entire Idemili land. The history of Eke Idemili was dated back to when our forefathers settled down in Idemili. The name Idemili was derived from the river while Eke lives in the river. Eke is seen as the messenger of Idemili that our forefathers served and worshiped. History has it that the first man that founded Idemili came from the deity and as a result people worship the goddess. Therefore, it is not amazing to see people living within the Idemili community sleeping with the python in their beds or playing with it as if they are snake charmers.
Eke can come to your house and enter your room anytime. If you see him, what you are going to do is to try and chase it out. In the olden days, people usually talked to him and it listened to them. So, when you see the python, you can plead with it to go and it will listen by leaving the surrounding immediately. It doesn’ t bite anybody. There is a lot of misery surrounding the existence of the royal python in the community, especially in the olden days, when the snake usually carried out a lot of messages as messenger of the god. It is believed that Eke as messenger of Idemili plays several prominent roles in the community. Saturday Mirror learnt that in the olden days it was a common tradition that whenever a child was born in Idemili, the python would crawl to the place where the baby was kept and curl around it harmlessly to the admiration of the parents of the little child. It was also common then for it to visit any home whenever it desired to deliver the message of the gods.
Saturday Mirror gathered that the royal python on many occasions has visited many indigenes of Idemili, who are living outside the community to deliver a special message to them. There is also a notion that Eke on many occasions had visited Idemili indigenes within and outside Nigeria to deliver the message of the gods. Attesting to the possibility of Eke’ s journey to many parts of the world, the Chairman, Culture and Traditional Practices in Obosi land, Chief Edwin Ofobi disclosed that: Eke as a messenger of the gods does travel to many places for special ass ignment. It usually travels in the spirit. Eke can go to Lagos 10 times in a day to deliver a message. Some of our people who are based in London do see Eke in London. Sometimes they found it in London on their bed or any other place and immediately they see it they will know that the god is sending a message to them. They will carry the snake outside and promise it that they will return to Idemili to find out the mes sage of the gods. Some of them after seeing Eke travelled from London to Idemili to find out the message of the god. It is believed that Eke’ s visit to people’ s homes could mean different things as the snake is said to have the power to bring good or bad tidings.
If, for instance, a noble person is about to pass on, a python could visit the relation of the person in his or her house a few days to the man’ s death. Meanwhile, whenever someone is fed up with the visit of the snake to their home, they can carry it with a bamboo stick outside their compound. It is a common trend to see people carrying a life snake around anytime of the day without any fear. But to prevent the python from coming back after carrying it outside, the person who carried it must ensure that while throwing away the snake, the stick too must be thrown away. If not, the snake will crawl back to the house where the stick is kept. Despite the belief that Eke is not harmful, Saturday Mirror investigation revealed that the snake might sometimes be dangerous; especially to strangers who try to attack it or whoever that is eating the snake secretly.
According to Nwabude, No Idemili son or daughter can be afraid of Eke because the snake cannot hurt him or her. It can only hurt a stranger who tries to attack it. If it bites a stranger, he or she will die; but it cannot harm any person from that town. If somebody tries to kill it and it attacks that person, he or she will die. Any person found to have killed Eke secretly or openly is usually required to bury it with the full funeral rites normally reserved for human beings in Igboland. Even despite the advent of Christianity in the area, the people of Idemili still accord great respect to the royal python whether dead or alive. During its funeral rites, the dead python is wrapped in a white cloth and carefully put in a small coffin and buried. In the case of the burial, the killer and his friends are usually compelled to mourn and cry for the departed royal python as if they were mourning their love one. Nwabude said: It is forbidden for anybody to kill Eke. Even if someone kills Eke by accident, the killer will bear the consequence.
Those that killed it in the past usually suffered and we have seen many instances of such issues. Anybody that kills Eke must give it a befitting burial by providing basic materials such as goat, cock, kola and many other things for its befitting burial. We have a great respect for Eke Idemili either dead or a live. If someone is walking on the road and he or she sees a dead Eke, the person will bring out money and clean his or her eyes with it and drop it beside the snake. Nobody can take the money except the Chief Priest. Anything you do for Eke secretly, you must come out to say it openly or you face the consequence.
If somebody kills it secretly and he or she refuses to confess, something terrible will happen to him or her. Anybody that kills Eke must appease the god because it is one of the great messengers of god in our land. Investigation by Saturday Mirror revealed that many people have paid dearly for their refusal to give a befitting burial to Eke after killing it. According to Orjiakor, a few years ago, a prominent Prophet in Idemili died a mysteriously after he secretly killed and ate the sacred snake. Eke does not usually fight people; it only attacks those that eat it.
If Eke bites anybody that usually eats it, the person will die immediately. I could remember one prophet who killed and ate Eke secretly and nobody knew about his action. But one day the python started walking in his stomach and his stomach started swelling up and down. It was from that sickness that the man who was a very wealthy man died. Saturday Mirror during a visit to Odinani Museum in Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area, where many customs and traditions of the Igbo could be found also stumbled on a yam, which was in a snake form. The yam, known as Python Yam (Ji Eke) came into existence as a result of the refusal of a farmer, Maxi Nwana Obedu, to perform the required sacrifice after killing the royal python in his farm in 1975.
The tag on the Python Yam reads: In many Igbo towns, sacred pythons are given respect because it is believed that they are children of deity. They are not killed or harmed. If accidentally or otherwise one is killed, ritual and funeral ceremony must be performed to appease the deity that owns the python. This water yam (Python Yam) came into existence as a result of accidental killing of a sacred python by one Mazi Nwana Obedu of Nri in 1975 in his farm during site clearing in readiness for 1975 planting season. When he made reports to elders on the accidental killing of the sacred python, he was advised to consult an Afa Predictor so as to know the deity that owns the killed python before ritual and burial for the dead python.
As a core Christian, he refused by saying that Afa’ s prediction, ritual and traditional funeral are against his faith. As a result of his refusal, all the hundred water yam tubers planted in the land that year on harvesting turned and looked like the killed python with head, spiral body and tail.
All the hundred yams must never be eaten; any person that eats any of the yams will have coiled python in his stomach and must die after four days. Attesting to the story of the Python Yam, the traditional ruler of the oldest kingdom in Igboland and custodian of Igbo culture and tradition, Eze Nri, Obidiegwu Onyeso (MFR), while speaking to Saturday Mirror in his palace said: Eke is a special snake in Igboland. It is a taboo for anybody to kill Eke in Igboland because anybody that kills it must give it a ceremonial burial so as not to incur the wrath of the gods. Saturday Mirror gathered that many people in the past have mistakenly and deliberately killed the snake but no evil has come their way because they gave the royal python befitting burial after killing it. The reality about giving a befitting burial to the royal python almost cost problems for some corps members few years ago if not for timely intervention of their landlord.
According to a former corps member who spoke to Saturday Mirror on condition of anonymity , his colleague in question deliberately killed Eke one night because they saw it as threat to their live, believing that sparing the royal python may be risky and dangerous. One day around 8pm in the night, I wanted to enter my room and as I raised my cotton, I saw a big snake at my door.
It would have crawled inside if I had not locked my door before going out. Immediately I saw the snake, I rushed out in my briefs shouting which attracted my neighbours, who were mostly corps members and they all followed me. On getting to my door, we saw the snake lying in front of my room. We quickly killed the snake. Immediately, we killed the snake, we tried to burn it but it was difficult to set it ablaze and because it was very late in the night, we decided that we would go and throw it away second day. But very early in the morning, the landlord and some elders heard about the incident and they told us to get a cartoon to bury it. The snake was later put inside a cartoon and buried without performing any sacrifice. Till today, all of us are living happily. Though the people of Idemili till today despite civilization still hold on to their belief and see the royal python as a friend, many strangers, especially corps members who name the place Snake Island, do express f ear about the snake, especially whenever it visits them unannounced.
Many of the corps members posted to towns within Idemili because of the fear of the royal python; usually change their posting to neighbouring towns. While those who are not lucky in changing their posting usually resolve to secure accommodation outside Idemili Speaking to Saturday Mirror, a corps member, Sunday Adesina, said: Corps members are aware of Eke because they have told us many things about the snake right from the orientation camp. We were told that it is forbidden to kill the snake and that is why many people don’ t dare touch the snake.
Most, if not all, have heard of Idemili, a community where a certain species of snake reigns like a king. Idemili, a conglomeration of about 20 towns in the current Idemili North and Idemili South Local Government Areas of Anambra State is one of the ancient communities in Igboland.
There, they treat a royal python known as ‘Eke’ with utmost respect and dignity. In many parts of the world, python is good meat and hunters do take delight in tracking it down, killing it and eating it. Some people, especially the villagers do take delight in eating a dried python as a delicacy with palm wine. But if you do this in the majority of the towns in Idemili, such as Ogidi, Obosi, Ojoto, Urukwu, Umuoji, Eziowelle, Ideani, Uke, Nkpor, Abacha, Abatete, and many others in Igboland, you are trouble. In Idemili people see living with Eke, as the royal python is known and called, as a way of life. Also, it is forbidden to kill it because it is regarded as a sacred animal. The royal python is a python with shinny skin of different colours. In Idemili, Eke is regarded as one of the messengers of god of the land known as Idemili. Hence, it is a taboo to kill it.
Speaking with Saturday Mirror, during a recent visit to some of the towns in Idemili, the Iyesele and traditional Prime Minister of Obosi, Chief Earnest Nwokwu Orjiakor, traced the existence of Eke to the creation of Idemili community. Idemili is one of the gods that founded Idemili community and the community is named after it. Idemili shrine, which we call Nkua is in Obosi. It is a powerful place and before someone becomes the king of this community, he must visit the shrine. It is only the Igwe and the Iyesele that are entitled to visit the shrine before they assume office. It is a very secret shrine and Eke is part of the shrine’ s deities. It is very sacred and we don’ t kill or eat it. Anybody that kills it will be in trouble.
We respect it whenever it comes out, he explained. A h igh ranking chief in Idemili, the Onowu of Obosi, High Chief Anthony Eze Nwabude, said the name, Idemili, was derived from the river that flows through the whole length of the town, while the python called Eke Idemili lives in the river. His words: Since the time we came to this world, what we learn is that Eke Idemili is untouchable and we don’ t eat it in Obosi and in the entire Idemili land. The history of Eke Idemili was dated back to when our forefathers settled down in Idemili. The name Idemili was derived from the river while Eke lives in the river. Eke is seen as the messenger of Idemili that our forefathers served and worshiped. History has it that the first man that founded Idemili came from the deity and as a result people worship the goddess. Therefore, it is not amazing to see people living within the Idemili community sleeping with the python in their beds or playing with it as if they are snake charmers.
Eke can come to your house and enter your room anytime. If you see him, what you are going to do is to try and chase it out. In the olden days, people usually talked to him and it listened to them. So, when you see the python, you can plead with it to go and it will listen by leaving the surrounding immediately. It doesn’ t bite anybody. There is a lot of misery surrounding the existence of the royal python in the community, especially in the olden days, when the snake usually carried out a lot of messages as messenger of the god. It is believed that Eke as messenger of Idemili plays several prominent roles in the community. Saturday Mirror learnt that in the olden days it was a common tradition that whenever a child was born in Idemili, the python would crawl to the place where the baby was kept and curl around it harmlessly to the admiration of the parents of the little child. It was also common then for it to visit any home whenever it desired to deliver the message of the gods.
Saturday Mirror gathered that the royal python on many occasions has visited many indigenes of Idemili, who are living outside the community to deliver a special message to them. There is also a notion that Eke on many occasions had visited Idemili indigenes within and outside Nigeria to deliver the message of the gods. Attesting to the possibility of Eke’ s journey to many parts of the world, the Chairman, Culture and Traditional Practices in Obosi land, Chief Edwin Ofobi disclosed that: Eke as a messenger of the gods does travel to many places for special ass ignment. It usually travels in the spirit. Eke can go to Lagos 10 times in a day to deliver a message. Some of our people who are based in London do see Eke in London. Sometimes they found it in London on their bed or any other place and immediately they see it they will know that the god is sending a message to them. They will carry the snake outside and promise it that they will return to Idemili to find out the mes sage of the gods. Some of them after seeing Eke travelled from London to Idemili to find out the message of the god. It is believed that Eke’ s visit to people’ s homes could mean different things as the snake is said to have the power to bring good or bad tidings.
If, for instance, a noble person is about to pass on, a python could visit the relation of the person in his or her house a few days to the man’ s death. Meanwhile, whenever someone is fed up with the visit of the snake to their home, they can carry it with a bamboo stick outside their compound. It is a common trend to see people carrying a life snake around anytime of the day without any fear. But to prevent the python from coming back after carrying it outside, the person who carried it must ensure that while throwing away the snake, the stick too must be thrown away. If not, the snake will crawl back to the house where the stick is kept. Despite the belief that Eke is not harmful, Saturday Mirror investigation revealed that the snake might sometimes be dangerous; especially to strangers who try to attack it or whoever that is eating the snake secretly.
According to Nwabude, No Idemili son or daughter can be afraid of Eke because the snake cannot hurt him or her. It can only hurt a stranger who tries to attack it. If it bites a stranger, he or she will die; but it cannot harm any person from that town. If somebody tries to kill it and it attacks that person, he or she will die. Any person found to have killed Eke secretly or openly is usually required to bury it with the full funeral rites normally reserved for human beings in Igboland. Even despite the advent of Christianity in the area, the people of Idemili still accord great respect to the royal python whether dead or alive. During its funeral rites, the dead python is wrapped in a white cloth and carefully put in a small coffin and buried. In the case of the burial, the killer and his friends are usually compelled to mourn and cry for the departed royal python as if they were mourning their love one. Nwabude said: It is forbidden for anybody to kill Eke. Even if someone kills Eke by accident, the killer will bear the consequence.
Those that killed it in the past usually suffered and we have seen many instances of such issues. Anybody that kills Eke must give it a befitting burial by providing basic materials such as goat, cock, kola and many other things for its befitting burial. We have a great respect for Eke Idemili either dead or a live. If someone is walking on the road and he or she sees a dead Eke, the person will bring out money and clean his or her eyes with it and drop it beside the snake. Nobody can take the money except the Chief Priest. Anything you do for Eke secretly, you must come out to say it openly or you face the consequence.
If somebody kills it secretly and he or she refuses to confess, something terrible will happen to him or her. Anybody that kills Eke must appease the god because it is one of the great messengers of god in our land. Investigation by Saturday Mirror revealed that many people have paid dearly for their refusal to give a befitting burial to Eke after killing it. According to Orjiakor, a few years ago, a prominent Prophet in Idemili died a mysteriously after he secretly killed and ate the sacred snake. Eke does not usually fight people; it only attacks those that eat it.
If Eke bites anybody that usually eats it, the person will die immediately. I could remember one prophet who killed and ate Eke secretly and nobody knew about his action. But one day the python started walking in his stomach and his stomach started swelling up and down. It was from that sickness that the man who was a very wealthy man died. Saturday Mirror during a visit to Odinani Museum in Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area, where many customs and traditions of the Igbo could be found also stumbled on a yam, which was in a snake form. The yam, known as Python Yam (Ji Eke) came into existence as a result of the refusal of a farmer, Maxi Nwana Obedu, to perform the required sacrifice after killing the royal python in his farm in 1975.
The tag on the Python Yam reads: In many Igbo towns, sacred pythons are given respect because it is believed that they are children of deity. They are not killed or harmed. If accidentally or otherwise one is killed, ritual and funeral ceremony must be performed to appease the deity that owns the python. This water yam (Python Yam) came into existence as a result of accidental killing of a sacred python by one Mazi Nwana Obedu of Nri in 1975 in his farm during site clearing in readiness for 1975 planting season. When he made reports to elders on the accidental killing of the sacred python, he was advised to consult an Afa Predictor so as to know the deity that owns the killed python before ritual and burial for the dead python.
As a core Christian, he refused by saying that Afa’ s prediction, ritual and traditional funeral are against his faith. As a result of his refusal, all the hundred water yam tubers planted in the land that year on harvesting turned and looked like the killed python with head, spiral body and tail.
All the hundred yams must never be eaten; any person that eats any of the yams will have coiled python in his stomach and must die after four days. Attesting to the story of the Python Yam, the traditional ruler of the oldest kingdom in Igboland and custodian of Igbo culture and tradition, Eze Nri, Obidiegwu Onyeso (MFR), while speaking to Saturday Mirror in his palace said: Eke is a special snake in Igboland. It is a taboo for anybody to kill Eke in Igboland because anybody that kills it must give it a ceremonial burial so as not to incur the wrath of the gods. Saturday Mirror gathered that many people in the past have mistakenly and deliberately killed the snake but no evil has come their way because they gave the royal python befitting burial after killing it. The reality about giving a befitting burial to the royal python almost cost problems for some corps members few years ago if not for timely intervention of their landlord.
According to a former corps member who spoke to Saturday Mirror on condition of anonymity , his colleague in question deliberately killed Eke one night because they saw it as threat to their live, believing that sparing the royal python may be risky and dangerous. One day around 8pm in the night, I wanted to enter my room and as I raised my cotton, I saw a big snake at my door.
It would have crawled inside if I had not locked my door before going out. Immediately I saw the snake, I rushed out in my briefs shouting which attracted my neighbours, who were mostly corps members and they all followed me. On getting to my door, we saw the snake lying in front of my room. We quickly killed the snake. Immediately, we killed the snake, we tried to burn it but it was difficult to set it ablaze and because it was very late in the night, we decided that we would go and throw it away second day. But very early in the morning, the landlord and some elders heard about the incident and they told us to get a cartoon to bury it. The snake was later put inside a cartoon and buried without performing any sacrifice. Till today, all of us are living happily. Though the people of Idemili till today despite civilization still hold on to their belief and see the royal python as a friend, many strangers, especially corps members who name the place Snake Island, do express f ear about the snake, especially whenever it visits them unannounced.
Many of the corps members posted to towns within Idemili because of the fear of the royal python; usually change their posting to neighbouring towns. While those who are not lucky in changing their posting usually resolve to secure accommodation outside Idemili Speaking to Saturday Mirror, a corps member, Sunday Adesina, said: Corps members are aware of Eke because they have told us many things about the snake right from the orientation camp. We were told that it is forbidden to kill the snake and that is why many people don’ t dare touch the snake.
Culled from Temitope Ogunbanke's blog.
Ndi be anyi, kedu ihe unu chere maka edemede a? What are your thoughts on this article? Are there facts in it or just mythologies? Are there still strict adherence to the python unwritten laws in the present day idemili? Let us know via the comment box below.
Umu Idemili Ekene Mu Unu o
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