The Igbo Indigenous Justice System
Responding to Law Violations in Igboland
All behaviours that violate the society's laws and regulations attract one form of sanction or another. In the Western legal context sanctions are primarily structured to impose harm upon the offender, based mainly on the assumptions that people inherently want to harm others and thus that the law functions to deter such animalistic tendencies. In the Igbo model of justice sanctions are primarily a method through which harm can be addressed within the understanding that all people are inherently good, but at times make mistakes, lose control, or slip up. While not all sanctions in Igbo justice processes avoid harming an offender, harm (such as execution) is only imposed if the community, the victim, and the offender's family all agree that it is necessary. From within this context (and implicit difference in approach to humanity) the institutions of Igbo society charged with enforcing laws see it as their obligation to respond appropriately to behaviours that violate the norms of society. Failing to do that would be an open invitation to chaos in the community. As Dike rightly observes, "control of the activities of individuals and groups within Igbo societies is therefore of paramount importance at all times, hence the existence of a multiplicity of institutions and organizations for enforcing compliance with Igbo societal norms. Such institutions include the masquerade societies, age grades as well as the assemblies of lineage elders who hold the Ofo [the symbol of legitimate authority and justice] and perform important political roles".
Murder
Murder is a very serious crime in Igboland. Igbos distinguish between murder and manslaughter. Within these distinctions the nature of the crime determines the community's response. Murder is generally viewed as a crime against the victim and the victim's family, and thus murder cases are mediated between the victim's family and the offender's family within the normative framework of the community. An agreement can be reached whereby the offender's family is made to pay compensation to the victim's family. This payment is decided upon according to the contributions that the murdered victim made to the survival of his or her family. The cost of burying the victim is also the responsibility of the offender. These compensations are meant to address the logistical losses incurred by the murder. In addressing such losses Igbo justice is not undermining the emotional elements of harm involved with the violent taking of life, but working to address the situation in a manner that brings about the least suffering possible for surviving family members – by addressing immediate financial struggles that the murder has imposed, the surviving family members are better equipped to face other burdens (emotional, psychological, traumatic) imposed on them. In addition to restitution, murder evokes a diverse array of sanctions in Igbo justice models.
In Afikpo (Igbo) society, according to Elechi, if the murder occurs in the course of a robbery, it is viewed as a crime against the Afikpo community as a whole. The circumstances of the act will determine the community's response. If the offender is a repeat offender and/or perceived as dangerous, and a major threat to life and property in the community, he or she could attract the community's harshest response. A conviction will result in capital punishment in which the offender is buried alive, with an iroko tree planted to mark the grave to act as a general deterrent to others. Before such sentences can be carried out the matrilineal relatives of the offender have to sanction it. In some cases murderers are expelled from the community.
The killing of a kinsman is viewed more seriously. It is an abomination, for which the remedy is cleansing and expiation rather than punishment. As Amadi observes, "in many tribes the killing of a kinsman, the antithesis of caring for him, was not
only a crime but also an abomination. After the murderer had been executed his family would perform sacrifices and rites to remove the stain of evil and ward off the anger of the gods". Amadi further notes that the murder victim's family and the murderer's
family met to negotiate appropriate compensation. Reparation negotiations were always under the watchful eyes of the entire community. The bargaining was always supervised by the elders of the community to ensure that retribution was not excessive.
In some African societies the murderer was forced to commit suicide. In some cases the murderer's son, wife/husband, or other relation was executed in his or her place if he or she escaped the long arm of the law. Some African communities force the murderer
to die the same way the victim died. In still others the murderer is persuaded to compensate the victim's family by providing a close relation as a replacement for the victim. Amadi notes that
The Kwale (Igbo) required a girl as replacement and twenty bags of cowries as compensation. The Kakkakari tribe required the murderer to substitute either two girls or a girl and a boy. The Gamawa required fourteen slaves as recompense. In some tribes, like the Gade, the Arago, the Burra and Ikwerre, bargaining was possible, and the death penalty could be commuted to a heavy fine, usually involving replacement by a slave or free-born. In tribes like the Ikwo (Igbo) the murderer was simply handed over to the family of the deceased, which was free to do whatever it liked with him.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the punishment for murder varied from one African community to another, from one era to the next. Even among the Igbo community responses for murder varied greatly from one town to the other. For example, the Orlu (Igbo) used execution by hanging if the murderer was apprehended immediately after the crime was committed. However, if the murderer was able to escape justice and stay away for three years, he or she could return to the community as a free person. Yet other societies, such as the Kadara, " treated murderers fairly lightly. They isolated them for a month or so, and that was the end of the affair".
The community's response to murder also varies depending on whether the offender and the victim are from the same place. In societies where bargaining between the victim's family and that of the offender is the norm the outcome might be different when the murderer is a stranger. In such a case the stranger will likely be killed or taken into slavery unless the victim's community and the murderer's community have some bilateral arrangement or understanding on how such cases can be handled. However, should the unknown murderer escape arrest, the communities of the offender and the victim can enter into arbitration, whereby compensation to the victim's family will be sufficient.
Sorcery and Magic
Most cases of murder in Africa originate from sorcery, magic, and witchcraft. It is not always easy to distinguish among them, notes Parrinder, as cited in Elechi, because in Africa it is difficult to distinguish between "material and spiritual.... Hence
the distinction of magic and medicine is difficult to make, and the two words can both be used, provided that their wide connotation is borne in mind". Magic can have medicinal value and can be used for fortification purposes. It can also be used
to both protect and harm people. Thus, crimes of sorcery, murder, incest, and bestiality are viewed very seriously in many African societies.
One explanation is that Africans are highly religious and blame every misfortune on either the gods or an enemy. Africans blame accidents, sudden deaths, delayed pregnancies, and prolonged labour or illness on the work of witches. Witches and wizards are thought to have supernatural powers, and can wreak havoc at will. Amadi explains why witches are feared in Africa:
Witches were believed to have the power of metamorphosis; that is, it was thought that they could change at will into nonhuman creatures like bats, leopards, mosquitoes, crocodiles. While in these guises, they could harm their neighbors. One method of killing that was widely attributed to witches was vampirism or blood-sucking. At night, using their mysterious powers, they were said to pass through closed doors to get to their sleeping victims, whose blood they drank. The victims became progressively weaker and might eventually die unless the aid of an experienced medicine man was sought. Sometimes witches left marks on the bodies of their victims.
The crime of sorcery is understood to be perpetuated through supernatural powers, and as such it is difficult to prove. This accounts for why it is not easy to convict anybody accused of sorcery, and for the resort to oath-taking as a way of establishing guilt or innocence. The punishment for sorcery is also left in the hands of the gods to avenge. In Afikpo, for example, according to Elechi, the community will order someone suspected of sorcery to swear to an oath. But this is the case where the victim is still alive. Where the victim is dead the alleged offender is tried by ordeal, where he or she is persuaded to drink some of the water used to wash the corpse of the victim. The belief is that, if the accused is guilty, he or she will die within a year after drinking this water. If the alleged sorcerer survives after drinking the water, then he or she is presumed innocent. After the oath-taking is administered the case is washed off the hands of those mediating and is placed in the hands of the gods. The understanding is that the gods will vindicate the innocent and punish the guilty by killing them.
Theft
Theft is a very serious offence, and attracts the community's harshest punishment of fines and ridicule in Afikpo, according to Elechi. Theft leaves a lasting stigma on the offender and his or her family. The victim of theft is not awarded any compensation
beyond what he or she lost. This practice is not peculiar to Afikpo. According to Amadi," "for the people of Alanso, Okposi, Afikpo and parts of Owerri it was enough for a thief to return the stolen goods". It is important to point out, however, that
it is not every act of acquiring someone else's possessions without the owner's consent that constitutes theft. Food and other commodities taken for sustenance are acceptable, provided the person taking them does not intend to sell them. Describing
other Nigerian ethnic groups with similar behavioural ethics, Amadi states that "among the Nupe stealing food was not punishable if the offender consumed what he stole on the spot. The Jawara tribe pardoned an offender if he pleaded hunger as a reason
for stealing. In Ikwerre and parts of Igbo it was quite normal for one person to take a few nuts from another's bunch of palm fruits heaped by the wayside. The quantity of nuts taken was not expected to exceed what could normally be consumed by an
individual or, in the case of a woman, what was needed to yield enough oil for a pot of soup".
Elechi and Amadi observe that the punishment for theft varied greatly from one African community to another. The penalty for theft in Igara, for example, entailed the offender paying restitution to the victim at double the value of the goods stolen. In
Jawara the penalty for theft was five times the worth of the original commodity stolen. In Oratta it was sufficient for the thief to return the stolen goods to the owner, but the thief was also made to pay a fine to the community and to endure public
disgrace. The public spectacle included forcing the thief to climb a palm tree where all members of the community could see him or her. The Ohaffia and Ibibio people painted the thief's face black and paraded him or her through the community. The
thief was sometimes forced to dance to a song sung by children and women of the village.
For some communities the punishment meted out to a thief depended on where the theft took place. The Aro (Igbo) would execute an offender who stole in the market instead of imposing the customary penalty of a fine. One explanation of this discrepancy
is that the market holds great value for the Aros, for whom trading is the most common vocation. In the same vein, people who stole yams at the farms and barns in Afikpo had one of their hands cut off. The mainstay of the Afikpo economy is agriculture,
and the yam is the staple food of the people. Some repeat offenders who were considered a threat to life and property were sold as slaves. Amadi states that "the people of Arago, Bassa, Awka, Ndoki, Western Ijaw, Ibibio, Igbira, to name but a few,
routinely sold off thieves into slavery".