PUNCH
Ayoola OLASUPO writes about the concerns of residents in urban centres who regularly behold open sacrifices at strategic places
Incantations uttered in hushed tunes accompanied with varied local songs at odd hours were no longer strange to the residents of Vono Street in Mushin, Lagos State. They have realised the acts signified the dumping of fresh sacrifices at a known crossroad in the street.
Stephen Oluwashanu is one of the dwellers concerned about the regular dumping of sacrifices in the area. When he relocated from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, sometime ago, to start driving a commercial bus, he didn’t know that the street located opposite Challenge bus stop in the Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, is notorious for dumping of open sacrifices. The sacrifice bearers usually strategically placed the sacrifices to the irritation of the residents and passers-by.
Oluwashanu told our correspondent that the sacrifices were often garnished with assorted foods and dumped in the area at midnight.
He said, “What I know is that early in the morning we always see sacrifices. They bearers bring different pots of sacrifices every other day. We do not know the effects on whoever sees the sacrifices.’’
He further explained that he often felt disturbed beholding sacrifices most mornings. He stated, “When I’m driving around 6am, as early as that time, one will see pots of sacrifices mixed with several food items. I don’t know what the sacrifices are meant for really. But I do see them as a bad omen. We pray not to be unfortunate in our lives.’’
The father of four added that goosebumps usually seized his body after sighting the sacrifices. “What I have noticed is that anytime I see the sacrifices, I do have goosebumps. It’s a kind of feeling I cannot explain. I always try now to make sure that I am not the first person to go out every morning.”
Oluwashanu wondered how the sacrifice bearers always often have the temerity to dump the items at those areas without being challenged.
“There was a time they asked them to stop putting them by the roadside so they constructed a small place for them. Despite that they are still putting them at the T-junction at Challenge bus stop. We always attempt to chase them away from here too but the people collecting money from them prevented us from doing so,” he stated.
Our correspondent further visited Mushin, Itire and Isolo in Lagos State, and Agbado-Oja in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State where sacrifices often adorn crossroads.
Import of sacrifices
Online sources describe a sacrifice as a religious rite in which an object is offered in divinity to establish, maintain, or restore a right relationship of a human being to the sacred order. It is a phenomenon found in the earliest form of worship in all parts of the world. It is known as an act of surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity. Sacrifices are prepared with different kinds of items ranging from food and non-food materials. Traditionalists regularly prescribed the items for their preparation and presentation. Most of them are packaged in clay pots and calabashes.
In Yoruba culture, a sacrifice is simply referred to as ‘ebo,’ the offering of something to a particular deity or cult in communion with them or to seek favours. It is however a common belief that sacrifices have both the positive and negative effects. Residents and passers-by in an area where the practice is common are always surprised or irritated beholding them.
Fear mounts over open sacrifices
Another resident In Vono Street, Ahmed Muhammed, said the fear of seeing fresh sacrifices carefully placed along the street at midnight, fuelled his decision to always stay indoors until sunrise, noting that he was often unhappy sighting them.
He said, “I see the sacrifices at a T-junction in the area. I’m not always happy when I see them. I don’t pass the place in the morning because I am sure they would have put fresh ones there. If I see a sacrifice in the morning in that place, I do return home and immediately go to pray.’’
He added that apart from the unattractive and scary nature of the items, the foul odour from the items when rotten was offensive to the environment.
“People in the areas should not allow the sacrifice bearers to put those things there. It is not good for the eye and the odour that comes out when rotten is not pleasant at all. What I know is that it’s been 20 years since the activity has been going on in the area,” he added.
Also, a T-junction around Pako along Lawanson market in Itire, Surulere, Lagos, is popular for varied sacrifices. Our correspondent gathered that the sacrifices are usually placed beside a transformer located by the roadside.
A businessman, Ifeanyi Chimereze, stated that sacrifices dumped at the area ranged from food items such as raw head of a goat, boiled eggs to corn meal with palm oil among others.
He noted that sometimes in some other areas sacrifices were dumped in strategic places in the night, midnight or early in the morning, adding that sacrifice bearers operated in Pako at any time of the day even in broad-daylight.
He said, “They drop different kinds of things like goat-heads, boiled eggs, bean cakes, corn meal with palm oil, calabash filled with food among others at the spot. The odour too is not good for our health because when it starts smelling we cannot withstand it. They bring sacrifices to this area regularly. Maybe it is because of the T-junction here. I can only pass there when it is fresh because when the items become rotten I cannot withstand the odour.”
Chimereze stated further that most of the time the bearers remained unperturbed and faced the T-junction to offer prayers silently, adding that he was always scared anytime he sighted the sacrifices.
