AFRICAN RELIGION, STATE FRAGILITY AND ETHNIC MILITIAS IN NIGERIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EGBESU AND OMBATSE BOYS

Dafetta Odiri, Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu

Abstract


In the last four decades, there has been an increased incidence across the globe of
the emergence and activities of militia groups. Admittedly, the magnitude of this
violence is staggering and Africa is by far the continent most affected by
collective violence. One of the most salient characteristics of ethnic militias is the
use of religion in the recruitment and initiation of members, as well as a means of
sustaining their activities. In Nigeria, religion has provided a parallel for
motivating and sustaining the activities of ethnic militias and has also become a
dominant variable propelling act of resistance that most times snowballs into
violent conflict when not properly managed. Thus, while other scholars may
perceive the invocation of ancestral spirits as symbolized by the Egbesu and
Azhilli deity of the Ijawand Eggon ethnic group as representing the normative
pattern and religious beliefs of the people, their crucial role in emboldening,
empowering and engendering the struggle is believed to be facilitated by their
marginalization within the Nigerian federal system. This paper therefore
contends that, the asymmetric power between the Nigerian state and these
militias may have privileged the invocation of the supernatural as a critical
agency of strength and courage.

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