Ekpe or Egbo

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Ekpe or Egbo

An African secret society that originated in the eighteenth century in Calabar, a section of Nigeria around the Niger River delta. The name means "leopard" and referred to a mysterious forest being that could be seen only by the initiates. On those occasions when the "leopard" was brought to town for ceremonies, the people could not see the animal but could hear its tremendous roar. Whenever an Ekpe day was announced, slaves, women, and children would remove themselves from the area of the ceremony, as the messenger of Ekpe, armed with a heavy whip, went through the village and lashed everyone he encountered.

The society was divided into eleven grades, of which the first three were not open to slaves. Members, as a rule, bought themselves into the higher grades in their turn, and the money thus obtained was shared among the Nyampa, who formed the inner circle. The king was president of the society under the title of Cyamba. Each grade had its special festival day, on which their Idem or spirit-master exercised complete control.

The Idem was usually a hermit who lived in the distant bush, and when he appeared it was in a fantastic guise of mats and branches that covered him from head to foot, and with a black mask on his face. The principals of the order were linked together by a garb of leaves so gathered up that they seemed to move in a connected mass. Ethnologist L. Froebenius observes:

"The Order of Free Egbos, is said to have originated at the fairs which were held at a great palm-oil market in the interior, midway between Calabar and the Kamerun. As the place became the scene of much disorder, while the European trade made it necessary for the maintenance of public credit that all engagements should be strictly carried out, this institution was formed as a sort of Hanseatic Union under the most influential traders, for the mutual safe-guarding of their interests. Later it acquired the political character of a Vehmgericht or secret tribunal, by bringing within its sphere of action the whole police of the Calabars and the Kamerun. The kings always sought to secure for themselves the Grand-mastership of the Order, since otherwise their authority would sink to a mere shadow. European skippers have frequently found it to their advantage to be enrolled in the lower grades, in order thereby the more easily to recover their debts. A member of the Egbo has the right to claim as his own property the slave of his debtor, wherever he may find him, merely by fastening a yellow strip to his dress or loincloth. Even in the interior of the continent the standing of an Egbo is still respected and feared, and affords one a certain immunity from molestation, such as is absolutely needed for the extensive commercial speculations in Africa.

"In the Kamerun, as a preliminary to their acceptance into the Free Egbos, the young men are sent for a protracted period to the Mokokos, a bush tribe in the interior; with these they live naked in the fields, and only now and then dart out, clad in green leaves, to have a bath in the river. All women, and especially slaves, are prohibited, under heavy penalties, from approaching the forest where they reside. In the Kamerun, it is customary to pay particular honour to a visitor, above all if he be a European, by introducing the Egbo goat, which the people are otherwise seldom allowed to set eyes upon.

"Holman reports that the whole of the Old Calabar district is subject to the rule of the so-called Egbo laws. These are promulgated at a secret Council, the Egbo Assembly, which is held in the 'Palaver-house' erected for this special purpose. In virtue of his sovereign rights, the head-chief presides, under the title of Cyamab, over this assembly. Amongst the members of the Egbo there are different ranks, which must be acquired in their due order, one after the other. Holman quotes Englishmen who state that Europeans have bought themselves into the Egbo, and even into the Yampai, in order to be thus better able to get in their money. He gives the following as the names and prices of the different grades of Egbo:

1 Abungo 125 bars

2 Aboko 75 bars

3 Makairo 440 copper bars

4 Bakimboko 100 bars

5 Yampai 850 copper bars

"To these must be added rum, clothes, membo, etc. The Yampai is the only grade whose members are allowed to sit in Council. The sums paid for the various titles of the Egbo are distributed exclusively amongst the Yampai, who, however, are not limited to a single share, since every Yampai can multiply his title as often as he can purchase shares, and these give him a claim to the receipt of the corresponding quotas from the profits of the whole institution."

The society emerged as a powerful force in nineteenth-century Calabar society and is still quite strong, though it must now compete with Christianity and a host of new religions for the hearts of the people. Much of the ceremony and belief of the society remains a secret kept from outsiders.