Nigeria: Whether women are prevented from seeing Oro ceremonies in Imota and Ikorodu regions; whether there are consequences for seeing an Oro ceremony, including death (2014-August 2016)
1. Prohibition for Women to Witness Oro Ceremonies
In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor of comparative religious studies at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, who has researched Yoruba religion and culture, indicated that women are prevented from seeing Oro ceremonies, including in the Imota and Ikorodu regions (Professor 3 Aug. 2016). PM News, a Lagos-based news agency, describes the Oro ceremony as an "ancient Yoruba cultural celebration that prohibits the movement of persons, especially women, at night" (PM News 12 May 2016).
The Nigerian Tribune, a Nigerian newspaper, reported in August 2015 that an Oro festival was held in Ile-Ife, a town that is "historically considered to be the source of Yorubaland" (1 Aug. 2015). The article quoted a "a top traditional title holder who pleaded anonymity" as stating that there is a restriction of movement for "young and old females that must not see the procession of Oro adherents" for the complete duration of the festival (ibid.). Premium Times, an Abuja-based newspaper, similarly reported that an Oro festival was held in Ile-Ife in August 2015, and that during the festival, women were forbidden from going out at night (3 Aug. 2015).
PM News reported in May 2016 that "some clerics" in Lagos had criticized the restriction of movement "of certain persons" during the Oro festival held in Ikorodu (PM News 12 May 2016). The article cites Monsignor Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, as stating, regarding such restriction, that "any cultural practice that is not in conformity with the mood of the times is anti-people and is not good" (ibid.). Similarly, Imam Lukmon AbdulRaheem, a senior lecturer at the Yaba College of Technology interviewed by the same source indicated that the restriction of the movement of people is "anti-democracy" and that "only the government has the power to restrict people's movement" (ibid.). Both sources interviewed by PM News indicated that the restriction should be done during midnight hours, when, according to Osu, "most persons were usually indoors" (ibid.).
2. Consequences for a Woman Who Witnesses an Oro Ceremony
Without providing further information, the Professor indicated that the consequences for a woman who sees or witnesses an Oro ceremony include "serious sickness and/or misfortune" (Professor 3 Aug. 2015). In a study published in The Journal of International Social Research entitled "Gender Exclusion: A Study of Oro Cult Among Awori of Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria" [1], Johnson Ayodele, from the Department of Sociology at Lagos State University, cites a "widely accepted everyday message that … if a female beholds Oro by gate-crashing into its affairs, she will instantly be consumed" (Ayodele June 2015, 551). The same source cites a male interviewee as stating that:
[w]omen must strictly comply with the traditional dusk to dawn curfew that usually characterises the Oro Cult festival. Non-member males and females are the 'ogberis' (non-initiates) who must avoid the Oro. Members are the 'omo awos' (initiates) who celebrate the festival with lots of fanfare. Finally, women are precluded from taking a look at the Oro. Any norm-breaking woman who therefore defies this traditional expectation usually faces a predictable fatal outcome. (ibid., 553)
Ayodele cites another individual interviewed for the purpose of his study, characterized as a "female civil rights crusader," as stating the following:
[i]magine, the Oro cult now heightens the feeling of gender inequity among community residents, imposes curfew[s] that everyone must obey and any woman who is unfortunate enough to behold the Oro cult while their curfew lasts will lose her life. (ibid., 557)
A traditional ruler was also quoted in the paper as indicating that
subjecting female members of Awori communities who defy the Oro cult curfew to extra judicial death penalty may seem ridiculous and barbaric, [but] that remains our cultural way of exercising social control in our neighbourhood. (ibid., 559)
Premium Times reports that during the Oro festival held in Ile-Ife in August 2015, some women told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that, although the festival only forbade them to go outside at night, "it was better to be on the safe side by staying indoors during the [whole] period than to be caught and probably be used as sacrifice" (3 Aug. 2015).
Further information on the consequences of a woman seeing or witnessing an Oro ceremony, including incidents where a woman was punished, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Note
[1] The Awori are "one of the major Yoruba sub-groups in Nigeria" (Ayodele June 2015, 551).
References
Ayodele, Johnson. June 2015. "Gender Exclusion: A Study of Oro Cult Among Awori of Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria." The Journal of International Social Research. Vol. 8, No. 38.
Nigerian Tribune. 1 August 2015. "Ooni: Anxiety Mounts as Oro Festival Enters Second Day." (Factiva)
PM News. 12 May 2016. "Clerics Kick Against Oro Festivals." [Accessed 11 July 2016]
Premium Times. 3 August 2015. "Ile-Ife - Anxiety Mounts, Women Remain Indoors as Oro Festival Enters Second Day." (Factiva)
Professor of comparative religious studies, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. 3 August 2016. Correspondence to the Research Directorate.
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Associate Professor of philosophy, Howard University; Center for Women Studies and Intervention; Professor of anthropology, University of California Los Angeles; Professor of Yoruba studies, University of Lagos; Senior Lecturer, Institute of Education, Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University; Senior Lecturer in comparative religion and African religions, Obafemi Awolowo University; Senior Lecturer in comparative religious studies, University of Ilorin; Senior Lecturer in sociology of religion, gender and religion, African religion, Obafemi Awolowo University; Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative.
Internet sites, including: BBC; CNBC; ecoi.net; Factiva; Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; The Guardian (Nigeria); Human Rights Watch; IRIN; Punch; The Nation; Nigeria – National Human Rights Commission; Nigerian Tribune; Norway – Landinfo; Radio France internationale; The Sun; This Day; UN – Refworld, Reliefweb; US – Department of State; Vanguard.