SHOCKING STORY Of Okija Shrine Which Has More Than 40 Native Doctors, With Human Head Seen Everywhere
The popular Okija Shrine was a dispute settlement shrine where people with personal, land and business issues go to in order to seek justification by the gods. But as Mrs Bridget Obi, an Okija native & former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Anambra State pointed out ” what the shrine later turned into in recent times, that led the police to bust the place was not the culture of the people. Traditional religion was not what was going on the again. What later took place in Okija shrine was just barbaric dehumanisation.
A group of police officers led by former Anambra State Commissioner of Police Felix Ogbaudu stormed the temple on August 3, 2004, arresting more than 40 native doctors, keepers, and attendants. More than 70 human remains and skulls were found on the shrine on arrival.
The largest town in Southeast Nigeria’ s Ihiala LGA in Anambra State is Okija. The town is one of the largest in Igboland and the oldest in the Ihiala local government region. The majority of Okija’ s population is Christian. Madonna University and Legacy University are located in Okija. Ihembosi and Ukpor city border it on the east, Olu or Ogbakubara borders it on the west, Ozubulu borders it on the north, and Ihiala borders it on the south. The Ulasi River joins the Okposi River, one of its tributaries, in Okija as it flows to the Atlantic.
A woman who was married to an Okija guy carried the shrine to Okija. She brought the shrine with her when she arrived in the neighborhood. A narrative goes that her cassava was stolen. After crying, she introduced the divinity to her people. Like many other shrines at the time, it was a success..
Such drastic steps are not necessary in today’s society, in my opinion. In actuality, they went to that length because of a lack of justice. That type of antiquated form of justice shouldn’t be necessary if the judiciary and courts are functioning properly, if justice is served in the proper manner, and if the police and community are carrying out their assigned duties.