THE SORROWS OF CHILDHOOD, A NOVEL Cont'd

Two

Tragedy

    Oba Ewuare, also known as Ewaure the great was the greatest warrior legend and the most outstanding king in the history of the Benin Empire. The title, ‘Ewuare, or Oworuare’ means ‘it is cool or the trouble has ceased’ and as a result the war is over. A title symbolic of an epoch of reconciliation, reconstruction and the return of peace among the warring factions in Benin kingdom, long before I was born in the 17^th century(around 1435-1440 AD). This oba or king subdued 201 villages in Southern Nigeria, including my ancestral home of Nri, and thus formed the ancient Benin Empire which declined around the period of my childhood, after 1700 AD. The Benin Empire was eliminated in 1897 by the British. However, the tragedy of this period was not in the decline of the Benin Empire, but that of the ancient and peaceful people of Nri, that raised my forefathers.

    As a testimony to their peaceful disposition, the Nri people were against slavery and the slave trade. This jeopardized a long standing relationship that existed between the Benin and the Nri people, for they supported and partook in the slave trade. In the 18^th century, when the slave trade was at its peak, the Benin and Igala slave raiding empires became the main influence in the Nri people’s relationship with the western and northern Igbos, the Nri’s former areas of influence and operation.

    Upper Northwest Cross River Igbo groups like the Aro confederacy and Abiriba peoples, as well as the Awka and Umunoha people used oracular activities and other trading opportunities after Nri’s decline in the 18^th century to become the major influences in Igbo land and all adjacent areas. This included parts of Igala land and places west of the Niger River, indirectly affected by the Benin kingdom. The Arochukwu people of the Aro confederacy even enslaved their own ‘brothers’ by treating them as Osu, or outcasts. Usually, inhabitants disguised themselves as forest spirits, and chased visitors who usually ran into the shrine to ask the deity for help. Once they did this, they were considered Osu, or outcasts, and enslaved. They then served in the shrine, as servants of the chief priest, and ripped of their belongings. They continued in this state, until the chief priest chooses to let them go. However, upon their release, former slaves still bore the stigma of having being Osus, or outcasts.

     Prior to our capture by the Benins, our forebears had heard of slave trade dealings undertaken by the Benin. Some neighboring villages had been victims of the Benin invasion. When our forefathers heard of the intentions of the Benin, they placed armed warriors at the borders of the village, to inform the Igwe, king and villagers of any attempts by the Benins, and ward off the invasion while the villagers escaped. However following countless failed attempts by the Benins to capture the Nri people, they decided to employ different measures that took my people unawares. And with this measure,  preventing an invasion was like building castles in the air, our forefathers explained to our own fathers in the native Igbo proverbs.

       Tragedy finally befell the ever influential and peaceful Nri people, like a dreaded disease, when our ancestors were captured by the Benins, after hundreds of years of resistance to Benin imperialism. As opposed to the earlier plan, the Benin warriors laid secret ambushes around the entire Nri kingdom. So while we ate and drank, we were under the constant watch of the Benins. They even disguised themselves and traded with us, speaking our local dialect, while working as spies for their monarch, oba Ewuare.

      It was the eve of the eke market day and children were gathered by the fire in the cold of the evening listening to folklores from their parents, while the traders sat under the canopy of the odala tree, discussing how sales had gone in the market, when suddenly, Ogidi, the leader of the warriors placed at the entrance of the village ran past our house, raising clouds of white dust, that appeared red in the fires, screaming in the native Igbo dialect,

    ‘Habiawala O, ndi Benin na oba Ewuare. Gba unu osor oo’ he screamed saying;

    ‘They are coming, the Benins and oba Ewuare. Run for your lives!’

   Ogidi was however too late, for before he could get to the market square, half of the village was surrounded by the Benin warriors. Some villagers were taken away from their sumptuous delicacies, some caught in the middle of performing their manly duties in bed to their wives. Some women were even dragged naked from the local raffia and palm leaves constructed bathrooms. It was a moment of severe pains for pregnant women, some of which had miscarriages. Fortunately however, my mother who was pregnant with me at the time, managed to escape a miscarriage. I guess the gods had a date with destiny for me.

      Our Eze, king was ripped of his crown and throne, and the council of elders, the Nze and Ozo title holders, dissolved, and the entire kingdom set ablaze. These were the beginning of sorrows. In a moment, the raid was over, and here our parents were, under captivity. Our glory lost, our pride stolen, and our culture and tradition thrown to the dogs. We thus became part of the ancient Benin Empire. That was a day, descendents of Nri kingdom, will never forget.