Snakes are generally regarded as dangerous species of animals which must be eliminated whenever they are sighted. But that is not the case in some parts of the country where snakes are regarded as sacred animals that must be feted and protected and even nurtured. In such communities, snakes are believed to be harmless and are seen as part of the larger society. In fact, they are accorded royal treatments in some places. INNOCENT DURU reports on the phenomenon in which the reptiles generally regarded as deadly are treated with reverence in certain communities.
In Machina, one of the ancient emirates in Yobe State, snakes of certain species are regarded not just as reptiles but members of the royal family, and they enjoy all the privileges that come with royalty. Like in a democratic setting, the snakes are accorded such fundamental human rights as the right to life as well as freedom of movement and association with the people in the emirate. They are immune to attacks and must not be hurt for any reason whatsoever. More importantly, unlike the ordinary people in the emirate, they enjoy unhindered access to the palace.
The Nation’s findings revealed that the species of snakes so revered in Machina was born by a woman together with one of the forebears of the emirate. Since then, that species of snakes has been accepted as members of the royal family.
Attesting to the foregoing, a scholar and member of the royal family, Dr. Abba Kagu Kagu, said: “The snake was born together with one of the forefathers of the emirate who was also an emir. We actually grew up seeing the snakes around, especially within the royal house.
“The snakes have never had any problem with anybody. During the last Machina annual cultural festival in July, some of the processions came with the snakes, very big ones, to greet the emir, because they are seen to as members of the royal family.
“When the snake that was born together with the deceased emir had grown big, it was taken to another compound in a rocky and hilly area outside the house. There the snake procreated like a regular human family. But whenever there was an event in the royal house, the snakes would go to the house.
“Whenever there is a big event, say marriage or burial, they come around. Sometimes you see the smaller ones coming in. At other times, you see the bigger ones. That is still happening till today.”
Asked how he and others in the emirate feel seeing snakes around the house, Kagu said: “For us, it is no big deal. It is not something that started two or three years ago. We grew up seeing them and even our parents grew up seeing them too. It is a very normal phenomenon. It is not that they come around roaming about and disturbing people.
“The royal house is a very big area bordering the rocky and hilly area where the snakes live. After building the wall, they had to create holes in the northern part of the house so that the snakes can have access into it.
“Sometimes, when they come in, they go to where there are flowers and lie there because it is cold. And if you have to go to where they are to do one thing or the other, they would not run away. Sometimes they sneak into the rooms. At that point, older people would go in and bring them out.”
If snakes are regarded as members of the royal family in Machina, among the Nembe people of Bayelsa State, it is pythons that are regarded as the people’s deity. In some quarters, they are not only loved, they are worshipped, and they enjoy immunity just like the snakes in Macchina do.
Chief Nengi James, a prominent Nembe son, said: “In Nembe, the python is a totem. Our people believe that it is a transformation of the spiritual being. It is one of the objects our people believe in at war times or when there are other serious issues. A python used to come to our house when I was young. As a small boy, I used to be afraid of it, but my father would have it removed.
“When the people want to remove it, they tap at it and call it a name. The python will courl itself and then they will remove it. But it is not common today as it was in the past because of modernisation and the exploration of crude oil. Most of the things we were acquainted with are not seen easily again because of these. But if we see a python, we always pick it up and drop it in a place I will not want to describe to you.”
Reliving a shocking experience he once had with a python while he was asleep, James said: “As a young man, there was a day I was sleeping and my hand touched something that was very cold. Behold, it was a python that had come and curled itself on my pillow! I started shouting and my father came and told me to keep calm. The python thereafter made its way out through a hole.
“At present, it is not common, but we still see it. When we see it, our people know how to remove it, using traditional means. I don’t want to talk about the totem, because whether we like it or not, we don’t expose everything about our totem. But if a Nembe man sees a dead python anywhere, he will pick it up, wrap it with a white cloth and bury it.”
Like the people of Nembe, in many communities in the South Eastern part of the country, pythons live in harmony with the people. They are revered and they enjoy immunity from attacks.
For instance, in Anambra State, Idemili North and South to be precise, the people refrain from calling the python a snake. They simply call it Eke Idemili. None of the natives who spoke with our correspondent dared call it a snake.
“We don’t call it a snake. We call it Eke Idemili,” Obiora, a native of the area, protested.
Obiora said: “We grew up seeing Eke (python) moving around without anybody trying to kill it. It is the culture everywhere in Idemili North and South. At times, it will enter into people’s houses. When you see it, all you do is use a stick to carry it and throw it away. If it bites anybody in the area and the person shouts, ‘Eke! Eke!’ the snake will hiss and nothing will happen to the person. All the person will need to do is to use his or her hand to remove the tooth it has buried in the person’s body.
“I don’t believe in those things, but there are people who worship it. If you see Idemili’s logo, it contains water with an Eke (snake) raising its head to the surface. That is to tell you the place of Eke in our culture.”
The cordial relationship between man and Eke, as python is fondly called in Igboland, is also a common practice in many communities in Imo State. A native of Otulu in Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State, who gave his name simply as Sunday, said the weird relationship began as a result of the role played by Eke in the lives of the people during the civil war.
He said: “Our neighbours in Umuduru don’t kill Eke (python). There is even a shrine where some people worship it. Although I am from Otulu where people kill and eat Eke, I cannot kill or eat it because my mother is from Umuduru. Eke, on its part, cannot harm me. I have on several occasions seen it on the road and all I did was to use a stick to take it away from the road. I cannot drink from the same cup with somebody who eats it.”
The Senior Pastor of Be Restored Peoples Mission, Rev (Dr.) Godspower Okafor, also said: “Not killing or eating Eke does not apply to Umuduru alone; it is a practice in the entire Amiri, Awo Omamma and Omuma. In these places, you dare not kill Eke because it is a taboo.
“As a pastor, I will not kill it, because if an Omuma, Amiri or Awo Omamma man sees me doing that, automatically, I will block the door of such a person coming to the church where I pastor because they reverence it. I as a person regard it as a snake. Paul said if the meat that I eat will make my brother to backslide, I will rather be a vegetarian.
“It does come to my house and all we do is to carry it and throw it inside the bush for it to continue its journey. Eke normally does not bite. But where it bites, it is not harmful. Although, if an Eke bites somebody who eats it, there will be problem because it sees the person as its enemy.”
The cleric added: “Nobody can actually give you the full story of the genesis of the practice. Not even a Methuselah in Amiri or Awo Omama, because they all met the practice and only understood from their fathers or grandfathers that people don’t kill it because it belongs to their deity.
“For instance, in Amiri and Awo Omama, it is believed that Eke belongs to Njaba. That is the most anybody can tell you.”
Consequences of killing the snakes
Unlike other snakes that could be killed at any time, checks showed that snakes in these communities must not be killed for any reason, and dire consequences await anyone who kills or harms them. In fact, some other snakes are said to be profiting from Eke’s immunity because people don’t want to kill them in error.
According to Pastor Godspower, “Eke does not harm in some environments because the people don’t harm it. But it harms people in places where they kill it. Anything you try to kill would do anything to survive.”
Kagu also shared with our reporter some of the consequences he said had befallen some “deviants” in Macchina.
He said: “People don’t kill them. Nobody will even be allowed to do that. Everybody knows this. The snakes don’t bite. We have never had a strange snake in the house. The ones that come have light brown colour. But the more they grow, the more the colour changes. They are not like cobra or other snakes that are black.
“Because people find it difficult to differentiate between snakes that belong to the royal house and the others, people hardly kill snakes around the town. Everybody is a bit cautious about this. People may kill snakes far away from the town. But within the town and the environs of the royal house, they are very cautious.
“There is a story to the effect that a pregnant woman killed one of the snakes, and when she gave birth, the child started crawling like a snake and never grew up. There was another that happened long ago. It was about a man who mistakenly killed the snake and died. He didn’t live for another 24 hours after killing the snake.
“Even if these are coincidences, everybody feels they should not be the ones to suffer such fate. People are very cautious not just because they don’t want to kill the snake but because of what was said to have happened to those that killed the snakes.”
Like in Macchina, the pythons in Nembe are believed to be harmless. But, according to James, they could bring calamity upon anybody that kills them.
He said: “It has never harmed any Nembe man. If it does harm a Nembe man, then, the person must have done something wrong to it. If you knowingly harm it in any way, it will deal with you until your carcass is seen.
“You may only get help if any of your relations reaches out to the traditionalists on time. If that is not done on time, no amount of prayer will help you. It will affect your family and your children. Not even the orthodox medicine will be able to cure you.
“If you constantly see it in dreams, then some wrong must have been done somewhere by you or your family members.
“Because it is a totem, the people also believe that nobody should tamper with it. If you do, you will face the consequences.
“Here, there are different pythons, but the interest of our people is in the royal python. But because of this royal python, our people don’t even tamper with others. Once you are from Nembe, you must not tamper with python anywhere in the world. No matter your religion, as long as you are from Nembe, you don’t tamper with it. You must give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”
In Igboland, especially in Idemili, killing the Eke is hugely forbidden and attracts severe consequences. According to Obiora, “it is a form of deity and some people here worship it. If anybody kills it, he must give it a befitting burial. I have seen where somebody that killed it did the burial.
“If you have a farm and you set it on fire after clearing it and an Eke dies in the fire, you have to invite a native doctor to come and remove it. You will buy a cow and other things that will be used to cleanse the land.
“The sight of it is scary. I don’t even like seeing it. I don’t like seeing it with my eyes not to talk of my children. I see it as an idol. It once bit my sister but caused no harm. I have also seen many people that it bit without any harm. But it kills the people that eat it.
“If you are from outside Idemili and you kill the Eke, you will run into a big problem with our people.”
Why snakes are harmless in one area and deadly in another
Explaining why some snakes could be deadly in some environments but harmless in others, Kagu said: “These are the dynamics of life. What is seen as harmful in one environment might look very harmless in another environment.
“Like I said earlier, the snakes are part of the royal family. That is how they are seen. They move about in the town but usually in areas that are close to the royal house. They are not like snakes that roam about too much. They are very slow and calm, even when they see people around.
“When strangers see them, the first reaction is that they get scared. But many strangers that come around have a little history about the place. The snakes don’t even intimidate. It is not that they will see you and run away. And it is not that somebody is rearing these snakes or giving them food. There is no custodian of the snakes. They are only allowed to move about in the house.
“We the younger ones don’t touch them. But the older ones, like I said earlier, always take them out when they sneak into the room. At times, you could be lying down and the snakes will just crawl over your body.
“It is not that you open your eyes and watch them pass over your body. This happens when you are sleeping in the evening, because our people are fond of sleeping outside as the place is very hot. While you are sleeping, you would just realise that something is walking over your body and you discover it is a snake. It has happened to so many people.
“I have never heard that anyone in that situation was attacked by the snake because he or she hit the snake out of panic seeing a snake crawling on his or her body.”
For the people of Nembe, pythons are different from other reptiles because they play messianic roles for the people, especially in the past when the people went to war with other people.
According to James, “to a large extent, it has helped the Nembe people, especially during wars. The symbol is always on the flag of the war boat. It shows that it is guarding the warriors. Sometimes, it may transform itself into anything to protect the people going into war. There are some things about this that I will never tell you. As a Nembe man, I will not reveal all the secrets to you.
“There is also an annual event for those who believe and worship it. It appears to people in different places even in areas where you don’t expect. If it appears suddenly to you, it could mean that there is danger.”
