BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Crime is an offense against the society that is often prosecuted and punishable by
the law.1 Crime is an integral part of human society; every society aspires to bring crime
under control as a result so many methods have been devised by both traditional and
modern societies to checkmate crime. There is no doubt that security has always remained
one of the major pillars on which the development of any human society is built. In fact, it is
doubtful if any society has prospered in the absence of security. This is because it is only
under a secured atmosphere that all machinery of development can perform effectively and
bring about the desired goals.2

Prior to the advent of colonialism, indigenous people of sub-Saharan Africa had their
system of criminology for the detection, prevention and control of crimes. With the system
being a creation of the people for themselves, the level of acceptance and reverence for it
was relatively high. Moreover, in the prevention, detection and other aspects of crime
control, reference is made to supernatural forces for intervention through oath-taking
processes and objects of fetishism, charms, magic and some other measures. The
supernatural dimension facilitated a socio-legal atmosphere in which the potent elements
of mysticism and debilitating fear of terrifying deities helped to keep crimes at relatively
manageable levels. These crime detection and control maintenance no doubt played a great
role in the unity and progress of the people especially in pre-colonial times.3

But the coming of the Europeans has altered/changed the peoples cognitive
mapping of what constitutes crime control through the introduction of new methods
leading to the abandonment of the traditional crime control patterns, systems and
mechanisms that was instant, efficient and effective. This relegation of traditional crime
control mechanisms in favour of modern crime control mechanisms has done more harm
than good in Nigeria especially among the Yoruba people. For instance, Transparency
International ranked Nigeria as “one of the most corrupt nations in the world”. 4 In Nigeria,
there have been cases of ritual killings: The discovery of ritual killing dens at several areas of
Lagos state and also at Soka area at Ibadan, Oyo State are examples of such killings. There
have been a high prevalence of deviance in Nigeria and Oyo town is not left out.

1
 This is evident in the increasing rates and incidences of crimes in and more
specifically in Oyo town. These crimes in Oyo town have led to increasing concerns among
indigenes which often lead to jungle justice. In the years past and in recent times, there has
been armed robbery and kidnapped suspects in Oyo town which were hurriedly arrested
and publicly tried, found guilty and burnt to death by the vigilante groups (an informal
modern crime control mechanism) made up of the youths. The problems of crime and
deviance have become a household discussion among the people of Oyo town. Thus,
various scholars have tried understanding the cause of these acts perpetuated by both
young and old members of the society.
Yoruba people of Oyo town like other tribes in the country, have since the nineties
have experienced increased wave of crime.5 Ranging from business men and women being
attacked while travelling, people in the process usually get raped and killed, many others
kidnapped and ransom demanded. There have been recorded cases of serial rapists and
homosexuals who allegedly rape children of different parents in different parts of the
society. Rape is one of the most pervasive forms of violence against women and on rare
occasion males. It is a crime in which assailants’ uses sex to inflict humiliation on the victim
or exert power and control over the victim.6 Rape is as a result of male bonding and
socialized ideas of machismo.7
Ritual killings are now the order of the day. A professor at the Africana studies and
research center at Cornell University opined that ritual murder is a situation where people
are killed in order to take their body parts for working magic for personal interests.8 In Oyo
town, there have been cases of individual killings and their body parts missing. Also, it has
been said that individuals engage in these ritual practices due to skewed emphasis on
wealth acquisition in the society. Also there have been reported cases of kidnapping and
armed robbery attacks on banks like in other parts of Nigeria and not only in Yoruba land
(Southwest of Nigeria). Kidnapping applies to all situations where persons are forcibly seized
and transported to a destination, where they are held against their will in an unlawful
confinement.9 Kidnapping may be done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime. 10
Apart from social and economic undertone of kidnapping, it may also have a political
reason where political rivals tries to undo each other and in rare cases kidnapping may lead
to death/assassination especially when the kidnapper discovers that his victim has
recognized his/her identity. Both genders are kidnapped in and the potential for one to be

2
kidnapped is when one has a kidnapping value in terms of social status or wealth.
Kidnapping is fast becoming a lucrative alternative to armed robbery.11
Also there has been armed robbery cases; where armed robbers raid banks in broad
daylight, private homes and businesses. Juvenile delinquency is also a major characteristic in
Oyo town. This term is used to embrace a broad range of behaviors, from that found
offensive to respectable values and occasionally serious crimes. Delinquency adversely
affects the economic and social development, strengthens social exclusion and poverty,
undermines security and reduces governance12. These various juvenile delinquencies
include drug related crimes, property crimes, violent crimes etc.
The nature of the present day modern crime control mechanisms has allowed for
weak traditional crime control system, thus encouraging negligence/relegation of the
traditional values and norms that guided the society. The traditional crime control
mechanisms had a strong justice system which allowed for immediate sanction to offenders.
Thus, it has become a problem to effectively define the extent to which modernization has
greatly affected the traditional crime control mechanism and their functions. It is worthy to
note that, the breakdown in family structures as a result of modernization has brought
about poor socialization, weak social ties and cohesion in the family; Hence, leading to poor
orientation and inculcation of norms and values of the society in children and youths by
relevant stakeholders.

The advent of colonialism disrupted the indigenous system, vis-à-vis its supernatural
leaning, as it was criticized as barbaric, unscientific and outdated, among others, thereby,
casting stigma on them to the detriment of African knowledge system. According to
Zacharys Auger Gundu, the system of thought underpinning colonialism in Africa and
elsewhere promoted the idea that “civilization” in the colonies could only come from
outside… as a result of this, all African knowledge systems were attacked, denigrated,
ridiculed, and systematically undermined.

This was achieved through structured stigma, under representation and strategic
silence… Christianity as the religion of colonialism supported and reinforced the stigma
leading in some instances to wholesome substitution of cultural practices and world view.
He also noted that “in all colonies, Christianity was introduced and projected as the only
way, other indigenous religious ritual became fetish while religious object of worship were

3
misrepresented as idols, masters, initiates and custodians of ancient wisdom were
denounced as pagans in need of salvation.” Elders and initiates lost their privileged positions
in the society and were passed over as ignoramuses on account of not having gone to
school.13 The colonial encounter is responsible for the loss of many aspect of African
knowledge system. It is also responsible for the suppression of information on many African
knowledge systems.

Again, the Christian and Islamic religion took captive the minds of the people of
Southwest, Nigeria and Africa in general; thus, weakening the structure and hold of African
traditional religion on the society. Also one of the problems traditional crime control
mechanisms have encountered is a result of industrialization, which has led to migration to
cities in search of green pastures; thus, weakening the effects and functions of this
traditional crime control mechanisms and the system.14 It could then be hypothesized or
assumed that, it is the weakness of these crime control mechanisms and its ineffectiveness
that has led to an upsurge in pervasive insecurity such as kidnapping, organized
assassinations and armed robbery, rape and ritual killings in Oyo town and by extension in
Nigeria.
The impact of such crimes is that today people now focus their eyes toward crime
investigation agencies and security agencies to check, detect and control crimes. Currently,
physical investigation by agencies has the probability to ignore and neglect the supportive
crime features. Most of these agencies search manually the database of criminals, which is a
tedious process and takes much more time. Few of them work with the help of computer
data analysts that are responsible for crime detection, criminal identification and prediction,
and crime verification to ensure safety to the citizens. Crime experts often use their
knowledge skills, intuition and past experiences when they deal with criminals and
associated crime cases. Criminals may then be executed and prosecuted by the law and
justice of the land through litigation. This may currently take long time, may be years,
depending on the severity of the crimes.15
The new legal system imposed by the colonial masters known as litigation. Litigation
presupposes instituting actions in court to enforce a particular right. It could also mean any
lawsuit or other resort to the courts to determine a legal question or matter. Litigation since
then has become the widely preferred and acceptable form of justice system over the

4
traditional system of justice. The former became more advantageous to the latter for it is
written and ascertainable. Over the years, there have been various researches employed
through different means towards improving the legal system by updating laws considered
out-dated, building of more courts, appointment of more judicial officers, modernization
and simplifying of civil processes to make them more responsive to the development of the
societies. All these are done in order to bring about a quick, fair and just society. 16

Upon all the efforts being put in place to improve the judicial system, many have
perceived the system to be that which is time consuming, frustrating, extremely stressful,
and overly expensive and in most cases not providing the desired results. This has made
many lose confidence in the judicial system for the above stated of inadequacies of the legal
system; ranging from insufficient number of judicial officers, to not having sufficient court
rooms, improperly trained lawyers, corruption in the judiciary and entire judicial system,
and continued increase number of cases pending in courts for decades resulting in delay in
the administration of justice, and its often said that justice delayed is justice denied. 17

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Crimes which are of various types and degrees can be detected and controlled
through several means either by the traditional or western method of crime detection and
controlled, even though the former has taken prominence and preference over the latter
owing to colonialization. It is against this backdrop that, this dissertation examines both
methods in Yoruba land through a comparative analysis of their roles, functions and
effectiveness, weighing their pros and cons and also suggestions on integration/coexistence
of traditional and western crime control mechanisms in modern societies in Nigeria
especially Yoruba land.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This research work seeks to carry out:

1. Carry out a comparative analysis of traditional and western method of crime

detection and control in Oyo town from 1900 to 1960.
2. Assess their competency, roles, functions and effectiveness of traditional and
western method of crime detection and control in Oyo town from 1900 to 1960.

5
3. Evaluates the practice of traditional and western method of crime detection and
control in Oyo town from 1900 to 1960.
4. Examine the achievements of traditional and western method of crime detection and
control in Oyo town from 1900 to 1960.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The significance of this research work is to enable one know and understand the
traditional and western mechanisms employed in detecting and controlling of different
crimes through the ages. It would help broaden the knowledge of scholars and also anyone
seeking to know more about the traditional and western mechanisms employed in detecting
and controlling of different crimes. Although many research have been conducted on this
research topic, notwithstanding this study promise to be an intellectual contribution to this
area of study. This study will be of great value to policy makers in formulating and
implementing appropriate policies. The study will also be of immense source of reference to
the academic world.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The study focuses on a comparative analysis of traditional and western methods
employed in detecting and controlling of different crimes Nigeria, using Oyo town as a
study. The study covers a period of 1900 to 1960.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research work will employ fundamental historical methodology of both primary
and secondary sources. Primary sources such as oral interview used in reconstructing the
origin of the Yoruba people of Southwest of Nigeria. In addition, secondary sources will also
be used. This refers to data collected during the research from published sources. They
include data which had already been refined, classified and analysed, for example,
textbooks, journals, periodicals and online materials. The literature review that will be
contained in this study will solely be based on the data obtained from the use of this
method of data collection.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

It is not an overstatement that a work of this nature cannot be carried out without
some hard experience. However, below are constraints to this work:

6
Financial constraint in sourcing for necessary information;

The duration for the research work which is relatively short, constraint of getting necessary
materials and information in covert environments.

Due to high level illiteracy the purpose of the study will have to be explained several times
in order to get the desired response from the respondent. There might also be a general
reluctance by the respondents in granting audience because many will be sceptical about
the researcher’s genuine intent, because some s the researcher as a spy of the government
or other party involved.

LITERATURE REVIEW

It is absolutely an indisputable fact that the history of society started with the
emergence of man, while the roots and shape of crime was gained from both. The basic clue
behind this was that man drew a solid margin between the wanted and unwanted
substances of the society. However society grows correspondingly with the number of
persons involves in the violation of norms, and hence the need to control it becomes a
public issue. Thus, as the number of people engaging in criminal activities increases, its
capacity to intensify effort and employ varying measures of controlling crime becomes a
necessity. Indeed when taken into cognizance the pervasive inclination of crime and crime
related activities in our contemporary world, the effectiveness of crime control and
detection measures need not to be over emphasized. 18

To this end therefore, it is paramount to jaunt into the work of some prominent scholars
whose efforts has made a tremendous contribution to the understanding of crime and its
control measures.

W. Clifford, in his book titled ‘An Introduction to African Criminology’. Aristotle (384 – 422
BC) considered crime as one of the factors enforcing the cycle of social change. The concept
has been of concern to philosophers and men of learning from the earliest time. 19 Thus the
question as why some people conform to social standard and others do not worried
Aristotle.

7
D.E. Mbosowo, in his article titled ‘Crime prevention in rural Nigeria’, in his own view posits
that “crime is a common place term meaning a variety of things to individual”. According to
him the interpretation and images we think of when we hear of the term depended greatly
upon ones or our personal experience. Here, crime can relatively be defined based on ones
experience or by being a victim. Mbosowo argued for example An aged man who has been
victimized by robbery, a farmer who return from his farm to find that burglars have visited
his house, and who also discovered that his farm products and equipments have been stolen
and a trader who discovered that his bicycle was stolen, all view crime in relation to their
experience.20 So to him “crime is a broad and pluralistic term used to define specific acts
and behaviour which our society has legislatively prohibited”.

E. Durkheim, in his book titled ‘The rules of the Sociological Methods’, sees crime as
behaviour that shocks the sentiment found in all “healthy” conscience. According to
Durkheim, these sentiments are intensely held and specific to particular situation, and
commonly form the basis of criminal codes. Therefore crime is a behaviour that breaks
shared sense of what is valued and worth pursuing, and punishment or sanctioning is a
reaction to that behaviour. Here Durkheim definition and that of Mbosowo shares a view
about the explanation of crime that, a consensus of values in the society is incorporated in
its criminal law which defines antisocial behaviour.21

Durkheim argued and maintained that crime is normal to society or features of social life,
crime exist or prevail in all societies and therefore it must be studied in its relationship to
the social structure. Thus, it seems difficult to regard criminal behaviour in the general sense
as being anything abnormal. Since it has become a universal phenomina one can make an
inference concerning its prevalence and persistent nature as justification of positive
function that crime have served to society. Durkheim position about crime delineates what
type of behaviour is acceptable to the members of society. Also it creates social solidarity in
opposition to people who violate important social standard. For instance when a member of
society commits certain crime like raping or infanticide, people tend to forget their
difference and unite against such behaviour. Hence, crime is seen as explaining the principle
of segmentary opposition where people with various background and interest unite to fight
against an intruder. Again here crime has served the function or playing an integration role
in the society.22

8
P.T. Ahire, in his article titled ‘Pemological policies of the Nigerian Criminal Justice System’,
referenced Karl Marx who is always associated with the idea of economic determinism looks
at crime from the economic perspective where society is divided into classes of the
bourgeoisies (capitalist) and the proletariat (workers). According to the principle of
economic determinism, the economy makes up the whole superstructure. Therefore the
nature of society is base on the economy. Furthermore, he argued that according to Marx,
the society‟s economic system determines it legal system. Marx contended that capitalist
domination over the under privilege makes them to commit crime. Marx sees criminal as
the freedom fighters who want to free themselves from the noxious bondage of economic
deprivation enthrone on them by the bourgeoisie class. Marx believes that people get
demoralized about their role and exposed to many forms of crimes because of the cruel
economy or due to unemployment.23

He attribute the cause of crime to the conflicting interest, according to Marx there is
inequality of social and economic privileges where on the far side, you have the owning
class and at the other extreme position are the none owning class who are exploited and
under privileged. Marx went further to stress that the capitalist create law that legitimize
their status quo and to protect the wishes of the owning class. Marx view of crime as a
freedom fighter or under privileged response to forces of domination, has been nullifies by
the theory of retribution who believes that “when a citizen commits a crime he is deemed to
have violated the right and privileges of others, and thus enjoyed more than his fair share of
rights”24. However Marx is right to believe that conflicting interest between the classes
causes crime. Marx did very little in a way of any formal analysis of crime, but conflict
theorist like Bonger, view criminal behaviour “as a reflection of power differentials in the
sense that crime comes to be defined as a function of social class position”25.

W. Bonger, in his work titled ‘Criminality and Economic Condition’ William Bonger is a Dutch
Criminologist and adherer of Marxist ideology. He was the first to develop a theory of crime
which incorporated both “crime in streets” and “crime in the suites”. Bonger argued that
economic factors almost exclusively account for crime. He observed that capitalism has
produced an immense increase of antisocial behaviour. According to him this comes about
as a result of capitalist economic system that weaken fellow feelings and stimulates criminal
motives through its inherent egoism, brutality and embittering the lives of the poor. Bonger

9
associated poverty with social deviation when he observed that a mental state of criminal is
an outgrowth of economic degradation”26.

Furthermore, he argued that the justice system criminalise the action of the poor while it
allows legal opportunity for the rich to pursue their selfish desire. Bonger observed and
suggests that crime can be eliminated only in socialist society because it would promote a
concern for the welfare of all members and would remove barriers that favour the rich.
However his insight was that, to assume poverty causes crime is to neglect the wide spread
nature of ruling class crime or the elite crime. Not with standing however, Sutherland (1983)
revived Bonger‟s in sight after it was largely ignored. He defines white collar-crime as “a
crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his
occupation”. One can explain this definition that the white collar crimes are not likely to be
juveniles and are not likely to be poor because these concepts respectability, high social
status and occupation which are contained in the definition.

D.E. Mbosowo (1989) a criminologist also shared Marxist explanation of crime. According to
Mbosowo, he argued that the rural crime problem exist side by side with problem of
poverty, economic inequality and unemployment. He noted that, it becomes apparent that
the multi-faced problems of rural crimes cannot be prevented through simple programme.
Since the elite and the powerless have different interest, whatever benefits the elite, will
work against the interest of the powerless. He sees the role of Mamzer as “just educating
rural dwellers to adjust to their poor condition rather than changing the system to suit the
demands of the rural citizen”27.

From this Mbosowo‟s position, one can see Mamser as an economic and political
propaganda machine for fashioning out a new ideology in the heart of the rural dwellers so
that the elite and the properties owners can maintain their status quo. From this point
Mbosowo noted that, “what we need is a comprehensive effort to make change in the social
structure that produce factors associated with crime”28. He went on further to argue that
the rural poor can neither feed their families nor educate their children, and such children
eventually drop out of school to form delinquent and criminal gangs, while the rich are able
to feed and educate their children. This he observed, the cycle of inequality is maintained. A
clear example of Mbosowo’s position is the effect of government economic policies and

10
programmes like the SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme) and the World Bank/IMF
conditionality which are manifested in deregulations and devaluation of our essential
commodities and currency respectively. This has now widened the gap between the poor
and the rich beyond calculations.

Mbosowo observed and maintained that low income people with unbearable condition may
be forced into committing crime of thief for survival. However, he was quick to tell his
audience that, Crime causation argument have indicated that crime cuts across all strata of
people in the society in respect of their economic status, and that not all poor people
commit crime, poverty is not strongly associated with crime.

W. Clifford, in his book titled ‘An Introduction to African Criminology’, posits that “when we
think of crime, we have a general notion of thief, murder, assault, rape, fraud and other
deleterious behaviour”. He argued that this kind of conduct cannot be allowed free vein
without disruption of order, a decline of public security and a steady decent into social
chaos. Obviously according to him, to protect lives and property and safe guard the social
order such offence should be controlled. Social reaction to crime often leads to social
control a process that brings about conformity to society’s norm and laws. To control crime
require a rational calculations than a common sensical guessing in order to serve as
effective working tools on the field. Thus any control mechanism cannot be said to be
effective unless people began to accept and appreciate their functional effort29.

E. H. Johnson, in his book titled ‘Social Problem of Urban Man’. Posits that crime control
model is dedicated to efficiency of law enforcement as a safe-guard for public order. He was
of the view that success requires a high rate of apprehension and conviction. But to examine
this view critically with regard to Nigeria’s criminal justice system, one can find that the
police and court establishment have insufficient resources for the number of apprehended
offenders, therefore, a speedy processing can be sought through reliance on informal and
standardized procedures30.

11
 CHAPTER TWO

2.1. ORIGIN OF YORUBA NATION

Yorubaland forms a part of about 250 ethnic-nationalities inhabiting the Federal Republic of

Nigeria. They are indigenous to Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo states. They

constitute 80% of Kwara State and 30% of Kogi State in the Middle-belt zone of Nigeria.

They are also found in Delta and Edo states. Indeed, the Itsekiri of Delta State, though a

distinct group, regard themselves as kith and kin of the Yoruba nation. The Yoruba are also

found in Benin Republic and Togo31.

Oyo State covers approximately an area of 28,454 square kilometers and is ranked 14th by

size, it is bordered in the south by Ogun State, in the north by Kwara State, in the west, it is

partly bordered by Ogun State and partly by the Republic of Benin, while in the East by Osun

State. The landscape is a beautiful view of old hard rocks and dome shaped hills, which rise

gently from about 500metres in the southern part and reaches a height of a about

1219metres above sea level in the northern part. Some principal rivers such as Ogun, Oba,

Oyan, Otin, Ofiki, Sasa, Oni, Erinle and Osun River owe their sources to this highland32. 7

The origin and history of Oyo is an extensive, complex historical discuss that can only be

attempted in historical study like this. For example, Oyo as a language, spoken by large sub-

groups of Yoruba or as a people who occupies large geographical area in the South West of

Nigeria, are even more complex in contemplation. Scholars have already treated this issue

to some appreciable level. Their contribution nonetheless indicated that Oyo is a central

figure among the Yoruba, in cultural history. Oyo appears to have been the first, to be called

Yariiba (Yoruba) by the Northern Hausa elements33.

12
The name however was extended to various provinces of Oyo. Before the name was

centrally used for all the people of Oduduwa (the progenitor of the Yoruba) descent; the

sub-ethnic groups were known by each group’s names such as: Ijesa, Ife, Ekiti, Awori, ljebu,

Ondo etc. During the slave trade they were sometime referred to as Aku because of the

manner of their greetings in Sierra Leone which is always prefixed with Aku, aku-osan, aku-

ise, aku-iyaleta etcetera. Sometime, they were called lukumi, (olukumu) meaning my friend:

a term commonly used by the Ife, Ijesa, and Ekiti to call their acquaintance in place of

personal names34.

Evidently, the origin of the Yoruba nation is involved in obscurity oral traditions, especially

from historians, passed from one generation to another with several distortions. According

to the Lamurudu legend, the Yorubas could not have been of the Arabian family, and could

not have come from Mecca, that is to say that the Mecca origin could not be found in the

records of Arabian writers of any kings of Mecca; an event of such importance could hardly

have passed unnoticed by their historians. But then it may be taken for granted that all such

accounts and traditions have in them some basis in actual facts, nor is the subject under

review exempted from the general rule, and this will become apparent on a closer study of

the accounts35.

In another account, that the Yorubas came originally from the East there cannot be the

slightest doubt, as their habits, manners and customs, etc., all go to prove it. To them the

East is Mecca and Mecca is the East. Everything that comes from the East, to them, comes

from Mecca, and hence it is natural to represent them as having hailed originally from that

city. Furthermore, according to the Sultan of Sokoto: “Yarba is an extensive province

13
containing rivers, forests, sands and mountains, as also a great many wonderful and

extraordinary things36.

In it, the talking green bird called babaga (parrot) is found. By the side of this province there

is an anchorage or harbour for the ships of the Christians, who used to go there and

purchase slaves. These slaves were exported from our country and sold to the people of

Yarba, who resold them to the Christians”. From this account, it is supposed Yarba people

originated from the remnant of the children of Canaan, who were of the tribe of Nimrod.

The cause of their establishment in the West of Africa was, as it is stated, in consequence of

their being driven by Yar-rooba, son of Kahtan, out of Arabia to the Western Coast between

Egypt and Abyssinia. From that spot they advanced into the interior of Africa, till they reach

Yarba where they fixed their residence. On their way they left in every place they stopped

at, a tribe of their own people37.

Thus, it is supposed that all the tribes of the Soudan who inhabit the mountains are

originated from them as also are the inhabitants of Ya-ory. Upon the whole, the people of

Yarba are nearly of the same description as those of Noofee (Nupe)" Arabia is probably the

"Mecca" of our tradition. It is known that the descendants of Nimrod (Phoenicians) were led

in war to Arabia, which they settled there, and from thence they were driven by a religious

persecution to Africa. We have here also the origin of the term Yoruba, from Yarba, their

first permanent settlement in Africa38. Yarba is the same as the Hausa term Yarriba for

Yoruba. In the history of Mahomet, there was a similar flight of his first converts from

Mecca to the East Coast of Africa (the first Hegira), due also to a religious persecution; this

fact will serve to show that there is nothing improbable in the accounts as received by

tradition. That they emigrated from Upper Egypt to Ile Ife may also be proved by those

14
sculptures commonly known as the " Ife Marbles," several of which may be seen at Ile Ife to

this day, said to be the handiwork of the early ancestors of the race. They are altogether

Egyptian in form39.

The most notable of them is what is known as the " Opa Oranmiyan," (Oranmiyan's staff) an

obelisk standing on the site of Oranmiyan's supposed grave, having characters cut in it

which suggest a Phoenician origin. Three or four of these sculptures may now be seen in the

Egyptian Court of the British Museum, showing at a glance that they are among kindred

works of art. From these statements and traditions, whether authentic or mythologic, the

only safe deductions we can make as to the most probable origin of the Yorubas are:

1. That they sprang from Upper Egypt, or Nubia.

2. That they were subjects of the Egyptian conqueror Nimrod, who was of Phoenician origin,

and that they followed him in his wars of conquest as far as Arabia, where they settled for a

time40.

Be that as it may, according to oral tradition, Oyo was founded in the fourteen century by

Oranyan a direct son of Oduduwa, the first King (Ooni) of Ife, Oranyan was said to be the

youngest of the Oduduwa seven children. He was a valiant warrior. He was said to have

reigned as king in Ile-Ife before he established Oyo41. According to Atanda, Oyo or Old Oyo

was located North-West of Ile-Ife close to Nupe and Borgu. The Kingdom later grew to

empire. After the death of Oranmiyan, many powerful kings reigned. Some of them are:

Ajaka, Sango, Orompoto and Atiba. They expanded the Kingdom and instituted a unique

political structure. At the early period, Oyo had to contend with the menace of Nupe and

Borgu attacks. The capital had to move from Old Oyo to Igboho as a result of the attacks in

15
early sixteen century42. Oyo later recovered and vanquished the Nupe in 1625 as well as

Borgu forcing them to pay tributes annually43.

During the empire wars of expansion, Dahomey (now Republic of Benin) fell to the superior

cavalry borne military might of Oyo. At the apex of her power, the Ijaye, Egba, Popo Sabe

and ketu were under the authority of Oyo by early eighteen century. However, the empire

collapsed as a resut of loss of concentration caused by internal political wrangling which

weakened the central government. The vassal states later took advantage of this and

rebelled against the Oyo authority. For instance, the Nupe and Borgu attacked the empire

and defeated Oyo. Dahomey in a series of attacks against Oyo eventually, defeated Oyo

before the total sack of the empire came in nineteen century by the Fulani jihadist 44.

Oyo is an ancient and historic town. Oyo state derives its name from this historic town. The

present wave of migration of Oyo settlers came from Oyo Ile during Alaafin Atiba reign45. In

Oyo town like in most Yoruba towns, living quarters or areas are usually called adugbo. Early

settlers are predominant in the northern and central areas of the town, known as the

indigenous areas. In the pre-colonial period, each lineage resides in a particular section of

town from where the family compound (agbo ile) is built46.

When a compound has become too small for its member, it’s not uncommon for family a

family head (Baale) to give consent to an industrious and dynamic male member of the

family to start another compound nearby with the same compound name. Agnatic members

of the same compound are forbidden to inter-marry as this is considered incestuous

because it is assumed that members share a common progenitor. Each family resides in a

section of compound and membership into a compound is automatic to children born into

the lineage47. It is from these compounds that children are nurtured and uncultured.

16
In the pre-colonial era the economy of Oyo was mainly agrarian, with few people, usually

male, supporting this with calabash carving (igba finfin), weaving of the local fabric (Aso

hinhun), drumming (onilu), ethno-medical practitioners combined with Ifa divination

(Babalawo), sculptors (gbegilere, gbena-gbena); to mention a few. The Oyo are also noted

for their Egungun (Masquerade) cult. In addition to ancillary chores that women are noted

for in pre-colonial time, women support their husbands on the farm by selling the farm

produce (by barter, later by pre-colonial currency (owo eyo), and colonial currency 9pound

sterling), (owo ponun) after the introduction of same by the colonial administrators48.

In contemporary time, Oyo town is shedding the toga of an ancient town for a number of

reasons: it has two private universities, Bishop Ajayi Crowther University and Atiba

University. Oyo is the home to one of the very first generation of colleges of education in

Nigeria, Archbishop Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, formerly Saint Andrew’s

College of Education; it also has two federal Government tertiary institutions, the Federal

School of Surveying and the Federal College of Education (Special) in Akinmoorin, an Oyo

suburb; apart from several government and private secondary and primary schools, among

which are the famous Olivet Baptist High School and Saint Bernadine’s Grammar School. The

establishment of these educational institutions has created more jobs opportunities in the

previously sleepy town, and crated a surge in its population necessitating the influx of

settlers, predominantly workers in the formal sector, to take up residences in new areas

around the fringes of the town.

2.2. OYO TRADITION AND CULTURE

There were cultural practices in Oyo, which were considered religious in context. For

example, the celebration of festivals may be cultural worship of deities. The predominant

17
religion of the empire in Oyo was the worship of traditional deities. Much of the Yoruba

history traced their origin to Ile-Ife, of which Oyo town has a link. This traditional belief

system is both political and religious in outlook, the reason being that the founder of the

clan is traceable to a powerful god at that time. When Biobaku tried to trace the pattern of

Yoruba history, he was of the opinion that when one concentrates on Yoruba speaking

people in general, one would discover that their religious belief is polytheistic in structure,

which means they have beliefs in several deities, such as Ogun, Oya, Sango, and so on. Oyo

is not an exception49.

According to Biobaku, the people who resisted all-conquering Islam found a great leader in

Oduduwa (a leader later deified in tradition) and left their homes in search of a place where

they could practice their traditional religion in safety. From the large cheifdoms which they

founded, it is evident that the leaders of this migration brought with them greater political

ideas and experience than the earlier ones. The gods they worshipped were either deified

rulers such as Oduduwa or Obalufon; or gods of fertility (Orisa Oko); of divination (Ifa); of

the sea and rivers (Olokun, Oshun); Or of prosperity and well-being (Aje Shaluga). All these

gods were but intermediaries to the supreme god, the Olorun (owner of the sky).

Ifa is a famous divination god among the Yoruba and it is very rare for the Yoruba to attempt

anything without consulting Ifa oracle. They consult him for guidance and advice in all their

endeavors because of his wisdom and knowledge of the past, present and future 50. The

worship of Ifa is found in almost all the towns and villages in Yoruba land. The Yoruba belief,

as recorded by Wande Abimbola is that, Ifa in the company of other major deities came to

earth from heaven and they first landed at Ife which the Yoruba people believed to be the

18
cradle of mankind. The gods were sent by Olodumare from heaven to Ife mainly to establish

order on earth. And Ifa played a leading role in this divine ordering because of his wisdom 51.

The great wisdom Ifa possesses gives him a high position among the other gods. Ifa is the

mouthpiece of the Yoruba traditional religion and as such, he serves to popularize the other

Yoruba gods and helps to immortalize them. Because of his great wisdom, knowledge and

understanding, “Ifa coordinates the work of all other gods in the Yoruba pantheon, because

he serves as a middle-man or the go-between of other gods and the people, and between

the people and their ancestors”52.

This history of Yorubaland counters the Eurocentric perception of Africa’s economy as

unspecialised, subsistence-based, and not market-oriented, and therefore, primitive and

inimical to ‘modern development’. Citing Ibadan city, which was modernised and

modernising before colonial rule: Yoruba people developed sophisticated market and credit

facilities with dynamic monetization and profit-oriented production ventures. The pre-

colonial economic institutions that were built in Yorubaland during the 19th Century

developed partly as a result of the articulation of Yoruba economy in relation to the Atlantic

Commerce between the 16th and 18th Centuries. Although the Yoruba economy was

monetized during and before the 19th Century, the cowry that sustained the monetization

was an European import, and therefore, the growth of domestic economy was dependent

on a foreign import, the production, supply and convertibility of which no Yoruba State had

control over53.

This grew due to European merchant capitalism in the 16th Century, which finally

culminated in colonialism in the late 19th Century. In other words, despite the local

economy based on local commercial initiatives such as ‘trade by barter’, and indigenous

19
transactional conventions, “the currency that oiled the engine of the local economy and

gave it life after the 16th Century depended on a transcontinental economic system that was

dominated by Europe.

Oyo became the southern emporium of the Trans-Saharan trade. Exchanges were made in

salt, leather, horses, kola nuts, ivory, cloth and slaves. The Yoruba of metropolitan Oyo were

also highly skilled in craft making and iron work. Aside from taxes on trade products coming

in and out of the empire, Oyo also became wealthy off the taxes imposed on its tributaries.

Taxes on the kingdom of Dahomey alone brought in an amount estimated at 638 thousand

dollar a year54.

Oyo's imperial success made Yoruba a lingua franca almost to the shores of the Volta.

Toward the end of the 18th century, the Oyo army was neglected as there was less need to

conquer. Instead, Oyo directed more effort towards trading and acted as middlemen for

both the Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Europeans bringing salt arrived in

Oyo during the reign of King Obalokun. Thanks to its domination of the coast, Oyo

merchants were able to trade with Europeans at Porto Novo and Whydah. Here the Oyo

Empire's captives and criminals were sold to Dutch and Portuguese buyers55.

Moreover, Caravan system thrived in Yorubaland because long-distance trade was

important to the economy of Yorubaland despite the pervasive insecurity in the region

during the 19th Century. Itinerant trading, credits and employment that linked different

parts of Yorubaland were also cultural chains that connected villages, towns and cities to

one another and to regional and global circuits of goods and a wide universe of thought. As

distributors of new products, itinerant traders were also harbingers of new ideas, novelty

and consumer cultures. The state and the political elite also collected tolls from travelling

20
parties. The tolls collected from caravans, each sometimes, numbering about a hundred

participants, constituted part of the economic basis of power of the Yoruba states and the

elite56. The toll is, in addition, to the agricultural taxes, through which the state survived.

The toll system was controlled by powerful political figures, usually senior chieftains who

collected tolls for the purpose of satisfying both their private desire and for executing public

projects such as road maintenance, public administration and prosecution of wars. One of

the significant features of tolls was that the bulk of them were collected in cash (cowry

currency). This helped the monetisation of the regional economy. Interestingly, the upper

class (royal and noble, princes and lineage chiefs) succeeded in presiding over the imperial

economy to the exclusion of the lower classes, which led to a protracted conflict between

the two groups57.

There were a number of economic activities by the people of Oyo. From their primordial

time to the present age, Oyo is awesome in creative force in all ramifications. This feat they

referred to as: alara, Oyo mara ju ara oko lo (the owner of creative force, Oyo who knows

creativity more than people of the less city). Never was any Oyo generation relapsed in ara-

the factor of creative essence. The feat performed in production and use of art in the Old

Oyo was probably unparalleled by other Yoruba Kingdoms. Yet it is said that Africa is greatly

endowed in art, but no other ethnic group is as prolific in art as the Yoruba; Oyo was

however, in the forefront. The Oyo art and craft is rich in type and depth of practice. Much

conscious effort has not been made on a proper investigation of the Old Oyo art and the

new. Although many archaeological investigations of the Old Oyo site have been carried out,

but yet the results from the site were not enough to give graphical details of Old Oyo art 58.

21
There was also the production of pepper as one of the main economic activities in Oyo.

Nigeria is known to be one of the major producers of pepper in the world, accounting for

about 50% of the African production, and the major area of production is Northern

Nigeria59. Although pepper is produced in the large sum in Northern Nigeria, out Pepper is

produced in larger quantities in the northern part of the country and the North supplies the

bulk of the pepper needs of the southern parts whose production is still at small scale.

Despite increasing cultivation of pepper in the south-western part of the country, seasonal

price fluctuations and scarcity is still common. It is worthy of note that Oyo was a market for

pepper, not a major producer60.

In terms of regional commerce, unlike the Igbo or the Hausa long-distance traders in pre-

colonial Nigeria, women dominated the Yoruba caravans. Caravan membership was neither

based on membership in a particular religion, town, or group nor organised and controlled

by powerful and dominating proprietors. Rather, the caravans were open to interested

individuals with each trader buying and selling, paying the tolls and other dues. It was a

lucrative means of accumulating wealth and the expected high profit returns made the

troubles and risks of itinerant trading worthwhile. The process by which a town developed

out of market sites intensified particularly after 1500 due to the expansion in the Yoruba

regional economy and increasing scale in regional mobility, especially between 1500 and

190061.

According to Samuel Johnson, a cluster of huts around the farmstead of an enterprising

farmer may be the starting point: perhaps a halting place for refreshments in a long line of

march between two towns…if the site be on the highway…in a caravan route, so much the

22
better; a market soon springs up in the place, into which neighbouring farmers (and their

wives) bring their wares for sale, and weekly fairs held62.

As soon as houses began to spring up and a village…formed, the necessity for order and

control becomes apparent…the principal man who has attracted people to the place and

formally recognise him as the Bale …of the village…the village must necessarily be

answerable to the nearest town from which it sprang and thus an embryo town is

formed…From this we see how it is that the principal market is always in the centre of the

town and in front of the house of the chief ruler (Oba or Baale, or any other chieftaincy).

This explains why the term Oloja (owner of the market) is applied as generic appellation or

title for all the rulers of a town63.

Farmers also participated in craftworks and public works. Though they lived in towns from

where they commuted to their farmlands daily. In cases where the farmland was more than

five kilometres from the town, members of a household often opted to live for most of the

year on the farm, especially during the planting season, and returned periodically to the

town for social and other economic engagements.

The Yoruba people had the guild system, which was mainly a capacity-based contributory

scheme designed to enhance the economic empowerment of its members. The women folk

established clear dominance in the affairs of several guilds in pre-colonial Yorubaland.

Among the Yoruba during the pre-colonial period, each town or state organised its own

guild system64. Within every settlement or town, the guild process had three main

categories which were: guild of general traders (Egbe Alajapa), that traded largely in

inanimate objects such as medicinal herbs, fruits and other food items , guild of traders

(Egbe Alaroobo) that trade in different types of animate objects such as fowls, goats, etc,

23
Egbe alaso (guild of cloth dealers), Egbe olose (guild of soap makers), Egbe alaro (guild of

dyers), Egbe alata (guild of pepper sellers), Egbe eleni (guild of mat makers), Egbe onisona

(guild of carvers), Egbe alagbede (guild of smelters)

2.3. THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND STRATIFICATION OF OYO

Old Oyo society was an acutely hierarchical one. Being the capital of a city-state that later

grew into an empire in the 11th Century, almost all the important functionaries of the state

lived in the capital. Kingship was vested in widespread dynastic lineages, with succession

rotating in a more or less regular manner between their branches. The Yoruba practised a

centralised form of government with the Alaafin as the King65.

The basic political unit was the town (Ilu), which was made up of lineages. A typical Yoruba

kingdom was made up of many towns, villages, markets and farmsteads. One of these

served as the capital town where the king (Oba) lived. This leading Oba was the wearer of a

beaded crown, bestowed on his ancestor, according to legend, from Ife and his town was

defined as Ilu Alade (crowned town) to distinguish it from other towns. Subordinate towns

were classified as Ilu Ereko (literally, “towns on the fringe of the farmland”), which in turn

ranged from Ilu Oloja (a market town with an Oba not entitled to wear a beaded crown) to

the Ileto (village), Abule (hamlet) and Ago or Aba (camp. settlement)66.

Each settlement was organized in a hierarchical form. The component lineages were headed

by male adults called Baale (or Bale — father of the house), who oversaw the administration

of the town. At the apex was the head chief or Oba, who claimed descendancy from

Oduduwa. The oba was the natural head of his own people selected according to purely

local custom. However, his appointment had to be confirmed by the central government at

24
Oyo. Thus, Yoruba towns were ruled by their own Obas chosen from the local ruling lineages

and their policies had to be confirmed by local council made up of heads of non-ruling

families and local societies. Yet even with the full force of local opinion behind him, it would

be a brave Oba who dared offend the imperial government of Oyo67. as the head of

government, the Oba was politically supreme, and as the executive head, he exercised

considerable powers: he could arrest, punish or reward any of his subjects.

In practice, however, the oba was not an absolute ruler. His powers were checked in a

number of ways and more importantly, he did not rule singlehandedly but in conjunction

with a council of chiefs known generally as the Iwarefa. The chiefs on the council were

usually grouped into two parallel lines representing commoners’ interests and princely

interests68.

The sacred aspect of Yoruba kingship did not lead to the oba becoming an autocrat but

rather the reverse. Not only was he bound by rules and precedents in his personal life but

these also required him to submit all business to councils of chiefs and officers, and only

after consultation and deliberation by these bodies could a policy be decided upon and

proclaimed in the oba’s name. Every oba had at least one council of chiefs who formed a

powerful, usually hereditary, cabinet, and in most kingdoms there were lesser councils for

the regulation of the different aspects of government. Thus the oba was at least as much

fettered by constitutional procedure as a ruler in a modern democracy. Moreover, the

chieftaincies were hereditary with the ‘descent group’ or extended families which made up

the population of the town. Thus the chiefs were representatives of their family groups as

well as being officials of the king and the kingdom69.

25
Oyo was traditionally the dominant military and political power in Yoruba land. She had

controlled an empire, which gave a large part of Yoruba land both cultural cohesion and a

certain degree of political unity. The vast Oyo Empire was known to be the largest and most

powerful of all Yoruba empires. At the topmost level was the Alaafin of Oyo, who was seen

as the political head of the empire. He was chosen by the Oyomesi, and was claimed that he

could only appear three times a year in public and that was only during some historic

festivals. His duties to sub-states were as considerable as those owed to him by the sub-

rulers, so that “the essential basis of the empire was mutual self-interest”. Both tributary

kings and provincial governors (of metropolitan Oyo) had the duty of collecting tribute due

to Oyo and for contributing contingents of troops under local generalship to the imperial

army in times of major war.

All sub-rulers had to pay homage to the Alaafin. The acknowledgment of the duty of

allegiance was renewed yearly by compulsory attendance at important religious

ceremonies. The most important of these was the Bere festival, which was celebrated to

mark public acclamation of successful rule by an Alaafin. After a Bere festival, there was

supposed to be peace in Yorubaland for three years. For his part, it was the responsibility of

the Alaafin to protect tributary states from external aggression, particularly from the north

(Muslim). It was also the duty of the Alaafin to settle internal quarrels between sub-rulers

and between individual sub-rulers and their peoples. He was thus the supreme judge of the

empire; his court was the final court of appeal70.

The Alaafin was carefully selected and commanded enormous respect. No man could be

considered for elevation to the imperial throne unless he was directly descended Oranyan,

the founder of Old Oyo. Yet the office did not automatically pass from father to son for

26
there were several distinct lineages of royal descent actual selection of a new Alaafin was in

the hands of the Oyomesi, a supreme council of state, whose seven members were

collectively recognized as king-makers. They consulted the Ifa oracle as to which of the

candidates was approved by the gods. The new Alaafin was then proclaimed as the

appointment of the gods. He was consecrated in his office by important religious and

political ceremonies during which he was initiated into the mysteries of kingship and control

of the sacred cults. Once these rituals had been completed, he was no longer regarded as an

ordinary mortal: he was Ekeji Orisa (companion of the gods, semi-divine beyond the reach

of ordinary mortals). He was the head of his people in the inseparable sphere of

administration, religion, and justice71.

The Alaafin’s power, in theory, was unlimited by human agency. Cult priests and

government officials were alike appointed by his command; and the usual practice was for

the Alaafin to appoint eunuchs loyal to himself. In practice, the Alaafin did not have such

absolute power. The Alaafin was not always the dominant figure or wielded autocratic

power; he was in fact subject, like all Yoruba Obas to elaborate restraints embedded in the

custom (which can justifiably be called the constitution) of the kingdom. He had to submit

his decisions in the first place to his council of seven notabilities, the Oyomesi, whose

principal officer was the chief known as the Bashorun. In turn, the Oyomesi were checked by

the council of Ogboni, a society which, in its worship of the earth, embodied both religious

and political sanctions72.

Furthermore, An Alaafin of strong and resolute character could initiate and carry through a

policy, obtaining the support and perhaps sometimes overruling the opposition of his

counsellors. But not all Alaafin were of this calibre, and the constitutional restraints on them

27
were always stringent. He could not afford to offend the members of the Oyomesi or the

Ogboni (earth cult). The Oyomesi were even entitled to pronounce a sentence of rejection

on an Alaafin, upon whose receipt (it was sometimes tactfully conveyed by a symbolic gift of

parrots’ eggs), the king was bound to commit suicide. The first recorded rejection and

suicide seems to be that of Alaafin Ayibi. Another rule, apparently established during the

reign of Ojigi, provided that the Aremo, the Alaafin’s eldest son, should take poison on his

father’s death, the intention being doubtless to protect the oba and his officers against the

possible ambitions of a prince who was usually associated with his father in the

government73.

The Oyomesi

The Oyomesi served as the kingmaker headed by Bashorun, the chief minister of state,

regent during interregnum, spiritual guardian of the state and also a sort of prime minister.

He was in charge of the religious divinations held annually to determine whether or not the

alaafin retained the approval of the gods. This may be considered an “annual performance

review” or spiritual “vote of confidence”. The bashorun was in a position to influence

important decisions of the Oyomesi and the Ogboni. In fact, for a period in the 18 th century,

the Bashorun wielded more authority than the Alaafin. This was largely the Alaafin could be

divorced from politics by strict adherence to religious taboos that secluded him from his

subjects whereas the Bashorun was always in the center of power74.

The Oyomesi were responsible for installing a new Alaafin. The Council was very powerful

because they shouldered much of the administration of the City and the State. Collectively,

they were more powerful than the Alaafin not because they directly controlled the majority

of the population in the city but also because their offices were hereditary and they

28
occupied the offices for life. The Oyomesi counselled the Alaafin on State matters. Each

member was expected to visit the palace every day and attendance was compulsory at the

weekly meeting of the Council with the King. All meetings with the King were held in the

Palace. Each Oyomesi also had state-level responsibilities in addition to their corporate

ward. Their duties demonstrate that there were hierarchies within the council itself 75.

The Ogboni Cult

The Ogboni societies possessed the judicial powers and were involved also in policy making,

also saw to the maintenance and preservation of the cultural values of the people, and were

also delegated to them. They influence a lot of issues in the society76. It was an institutional

to check on the powers of the Oyomesi and the Alaafin. The Ogboni was a secret and

virtually united corporation of political and religious leaders and its special priests. They also

partook in the burial rituals of a deceased king. The power of the Bashorun and the Oyomesi

was in fact restrained by the Ogboni as a group concerned with the mystical aspect of

Yoruba life, they controlled as a third force, the relationship between the Alaafin and the

Oyomesi, the Council of State.

However, J. A. Atanda, in his work has proved that the Ogboni did not exist in the original

Old Oyo but that following the evacuation of the imperial city in the 1830s and the

relocation of the capital at New Oyo (Ago Oja), the institution developed. This means that in

the early Old Oyo, the manipulation of powers and hierarchies by the members of the

Oyomesi and the Alaafin and his officials was the means by which balances and checks were

maintained77.

29
The Eso

The Eso (the military guards), the Eso constituted the military nobility and in a way

contrasted the Oyomesi as the civil lords, a political arrangement based on the principle that

military personnel must be under the civil authorities. All the Eso had to live in the city.

However, the head of the Eso, the Aare Onakankanfo, directly reported to the Alaafin, and

he was not allowed to live in the city. He was customarily required to live in a frontier

province of great strategic importance in imperial defense.

Thus, he was well placed to guarantee imperial security against attack and was too far

removed from the capital to interfere directly in central politics” 78. In fact to ensure this, he

was debarred from entering the capital except with permission. This minimized, if not

precluded, the possibility of military coup d’états. On all major campaigns, the Are-Ona-

Kakanfo personally commanded in the field.

Thus, he lived in a different town where he was also the maximum ruler, although with the

sanction of the Alaafin. The Aare Onakankanfo was supposed to be a powerful personality,

as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. However, he could only go to war with the

approval of the Alaafin and his Council, and he had to either win the battle or commit

suicide. He could escape the consequence of failure by fleeing to found a separate state a

safe distance away from imperial retribution. “Thus, Oyo protect itself against hesitant

generalship in the field and ‘retire’ those generals who clung to military command when

their martial vigor was declining”79, However, the titles of the Eso and the Aare were not

hereditary but were accorded on the basis of personal achievement in military matters.

30
Other Officials

There were also the palace officials, who were very relevant to the successful

implementation of the kingdom’s goals and objectives. They include but not limited to:

Iya oba (Official mother of the king),

Iya kere (a female keeper of palace treasures, royal insignia and paraphernalia of authority),

The Osi Efa, the Ona Efa and the Otun Efa (three eunuchs), their functions were to be in

charge of political matters, serve judicial purposes and also perform religious duties for the

Alaafin respectively. There were checks and balances, which kept the system in check

against arbitrary use of power.

Arokin (national historians, several in number), Tetu (Executioners) and Ilari (messengers

and bodyguards of the Alaafin, numbered in hundreds and were of both sexes, to mention

just a few.

The intense struggle for power between the royal authority and non-royal chiefs reached a

climax in the 18th Century, marked by cycles of intolerance between the Alaafin and the

Oyomesi led by the Bashorun. The protracted Alaafin-Oyomesi conflict was a wild political

ride that eventually crashed the internal administration of Old Oyo and resulted to a large

extent in the collapse of the Oyo Empire and the evacuation of the capital in the 1830s80.

2.4. CRIME DETECTION METHODS AND CONTROL

Crimes Pre-Colonial Era

During the pre-colonial Oyo, crimes were few in number. The community was self-

supporting and self contained, so the behavior of the people was fairly uniform or

consistent. According to Elias81, he argued that there is a collaborative relation between

31
development and crime. Elias maintained that the less developed a society, the less law to

be enacted, but the more developed a society, the more laws, and the more laws, the more

crimes to be committed by the members of that society. Old Oyo was underdeveloped with

few laws and fewer crimes.

Furthermore, the lives of the people were not very much influenced by the social and

economic issues shared by members of advanced societies. The individual was a member

not only of his immediate family, but also of his extended family and town. The pre-colonial

era was thus a very large family, harmonious in its traditional culture82. The people had very

little contact with the outside world since each community at the time was self-supporting

and self-contained. These characteristics made the behavior of almost the entire

membership of the community nearly consistent, with little criminal intent 83.

However, witchcraft, murder, sorcery, rape, adultery, theft, arson, and slavery did exist.

Except for witchcraft, other crimes were uncommon and at the same time were not taken

seriously. The penalty for witchcraft as a serious crime was death by spearing, burning,

burying alive, and impalement of the convicted person 84. For lesser crimes as well as for

cases of compoundable murder, such as manslaughter, the punishment was fines and other

compensatory payments that were rigidly enforced and exacted. In fact, there was little

inclination either on the part of the elders or of the parties to compromise on the fixed rate

of penalty payable.

Most adult thieves were flogged in addition to other punishments, such as shaming and

fines. Shaming included having to dance around the market without clothes and also the

singing of bad songs about the criminal for years. Young offenders were often flogged

without additional punishments85.

32
There was no widespread use of imprisonment as an indigenous institution for punishing a

criminal. There was, however, an established practice concerning debtors. The

imprisonment of debtors in rarely cancelled the debt, and was a way of exacting interest.

Every rich man kept his own criminals in prison for offenses such as disobedience,

drunkenness, etc. Elias stated that criminals were usually detained in the prison of the

Ogboni society. For instance, Bishop Ajayi Crowther (a Yoruba man) recorded that in 1853,

three criminals who had previously been detained were executed by one Jagunain, at the

Ogboni’s council house at Abeokuta, a town in western Nigeria86.

In the old Oyo, notorious evildoers, such as adulterers and thieves, were regarded as a

menace to the entire community and were disowned by their immediate relatives. Those

who betrayed and sold out community secrets were among those notorious evildoers. Such

evildoers were banished. Notorious witches were thrown into a ditch and burnt alive and

chronic thieves were banished and adulterers, they were publicly shamed87.

Though, these punishments may be seen as crude justice, but they were effective

deterrents to evildoing because the crimes were reduced after a while when a sign of

positive change is seen or turned a new leaf. In an era when there was no organized police

force or rationalized justice, these systems of group detection and group punishment of

crime served a very useful purpose88.

Unfortunately, white-collar crimes, such as forgery and embezzlement, were rare during this

era because there were no white-collar jobs. In the absence of taxation, elite crimes—

environmental pollution, price-fixing, and tax fraud— were nonexistent. There were no bank

robberies, because there were no banks then. Property was very sparse and as a result,

stealing from one another was scarce and limited in scope89.

33
In addition, morality was high, and a few people committed adultery and incest. However, it

was very rare for a person to break the moral norms of his own community. Any violation of

local custom or moral code was very much dreaded and abhorred, as no member of the

group wanted to bring upon himself the obvious punishment of ostracism. Inside the

community, people were closely knit by social fusion of kin, so violence was strenuously

avoided. Life was simple and an individual’s needs were very few. There were also very

limited areas of individual and group conflict90.

Crime detection, methods and control

There is no doubt that security has always remained one of the major pillars on which the

development of any human society is built. In fact, it is doubtful if any society has prospered

in the absence of security. This is because it is only under a secured atmosphere that all

machinery of development can perform effectively and bring about the desired goals. Even

in pre-colonial Oyo, the people recognised the significance of security to their well-being

and as such, they had in place various mechanisms aimed at the maintenance and

sustenance of their security91.

The old Oyo had their own ideas of right and wrong framed in a sophisticated system and

conception of law. To them, law is a well-known body of customary rules by which everyone

regulates its conduct92. The legal culture frowns at any improper behaviour viewed as

capable of being inimical to the legal norms and disrupting the social equilibrium. Deities,

shrines, ancestors, kinship, elders, age grade associations and the chiefs are some of the

indigenous mechanisms of crime control in Oyo as nearly in all African societies 93.

Long before the advent of the British, a distinction was made between law and custom.

Social pressure might make custom more or less obligatory, but perhaps not a matter for

34
judicial hearing. Rules of law, on the other hand, were obligatory and were divisible into

what might be broadly categorized as private law and public law. In the pre-colonial era,

private law dealt with disputes among members of the community, disputes that in the

modern sense might cause a breach of the peace. Public law in the same era was concerned

with various forms of antisocial behavior, that is, offenses such as treason, witchcraft, and

religious offenses in general which were concerned with the whole of society94.

Law in the pre-colonial era was unwritten, but its principles were sometimes

expressed in proverbs; it was latent in the minds of the people and in the minds of the ruling

elites in particular. Law in old Oyo, though not written, was more real than the written

codes of the colonial and the postcolonial eras as a vital instrument for regulating the

society95.

This was because oath swearing, an integral part of the customary law, was revered

and respected. Since the concern of the rules was the welfare of the community as a whole,

therefore, no distinction was drawn between executive and judicial functions. In most cases,

council were the same for both judicial and administrative purposes. Administration of

justice was merely for peace-keeping, an important aspect of the exercise of political

power96. As a result, no person was made a chief at any level unless he was considered to be

of sound mind, generous, and knowledgeable in the laws and customs of his people. The

mental qualities were highly emphasized, because once he was crowned, a considerable

portion of a chief’s time would be taken up in settling disputes and dealing with offenders

against the public law in consultation with his council of advisers.

Thus, it is an acknowledged fact that what we know today as Alternative Dispute

Resolution (ADR), which stretches into the practice of Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) is

practically as old as man and has been used in most societies to resolve disputes through

35
their traditional mediating institutions or by the individuals trying to reach a compromise by

negotiation on their own97. However, crime detection normally falls into three

distinguishable phases: the discovery that a crime has been committed, the identification of

a suspect and the collection of sufficient evidence to indict the suspect.

Traditional methods of controlling crime and maintaining security is not of universal

acceptance as it are culturally relative. These ways to a great extent have to deal with

pattern of organization and belief system of the people98. When people are bound together

by strong cohesive bounds of community consciousness, well tribal transaction, crime can

be reduced to a barest minimum99. Traditional crime control, indeed the detection,

prevention and control of criminal behaviour in Old Oyo had its roots in kinship and

extended family system. Within the lineage group, the leader of the group, usually the

eldest male person, called the (Bale or olori ebi), provided the examples as he is the model

of conduct. Above the lineage group, were the clans in which authority was subordinated to,

that of a figure called Baale; who is not merely a model of conduct, but also conducts

ceremonies which affirms the corporateness of the people and moreover armed with the

power of sanctions against offenders100.

In addition, the system of organizing the family in the pattern of kinship and

extended family was significant in understanding crime detection, prevention and control in

the pre-colonial Oyo setting. Control of member of a family was simple, effective and in

most cases, democratic. The family which was the source of stability and social control was

united under the control of the oldest person. But modernity has affected the kinship and

extended family system, and social control is no longer the same.

36
 Furthermore, religion (especially Africa traditional religion) was also regarded as one

best way in controlling crime in Old Oyo. Religion may be viewed in a narrow sense to refer

to a set of theological beliefs held and rituals performed by members of a particular group.

In a broad sense it involves the integral part of culture of the people. The etymological

meaning of religion point to its social function of discipline which this study contextualizes.

Durkheim viewed religion as unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred

things, (things set apart and forbidden) beliefs and practices which unite into one single

moral community101. While Turner sees religion as the control of men by the establishment

of rules which create mutual obligations in order to cement social relationship 102. Mankind

would lie in a deplorable state if no principles or precepts of justice, veracity and

beneficence were not taught privately or publicly – opposite vices would steal the shine103.

However, the argument that religion is an important tool for the moral well-being of

the community has been advanced in many forms. One of such is that, religion is useful as a

cohesive factor, holding the society and its morality together in such a way that whoever

attacks the society’s religion is deemed to have attacked the society. Religion has also been

seen as a source of strength and consolation, and essential for moral education, moral

endeavour and moral achievement104. Giving that Old Oyo was relatively undifferentiated

and homogenous and religiously dispose, meaning that religion governed lineage and family

relationship; religion meant collectivity, and forms the basis of social control105. It was the

religious ties that created propitious leverage for strong community ties and less crime

among the people.

Thus, in relation to criminal behaviour, religion has expressingly sort to solving

integratively these problems, because it legitimizes our values and provide reasons why

certain values should be preferred to others106. For instance, Oba (2006) argued that the use

37
of curses to compel people to respect their taboos and laws served as a control. Curses

were generally feared because of the belief that defaulters would be inflicted with

protracted sickness, sudden death or other calamities107.

The Old Oyo like most African communities was very religious in every aspect of their

culture long before the advent of the colonial masters. As a result of these religious

inclinations, they tended to read and interpret their daily social interactions from the point

of view of the involvement of the gods in their everyday life. Consequently, religious

customs and rituals form a greater part of Oyo people’s culture. Through these customs and

rituals, the people were able to establish a relationship with the spirit world, (Antia 2005) 108.

It seems plausible to sustain that Oyo people right from the time of their ancestors had

established a theocratic way of life in which their daily existence was ruled by rituals and

customs with the chiefs and elders of the people acting as mediators between the gods and

the people.

Furthermore, a system was created where the people interacted freely within

approved bounds influencing and complementing each other for the good of all. Several

methods were used in governance, combating crimes and maintaining the general

harmonious and peaceful co-existence within them. Obviously according to Mbon (1994)109,

crime has existed since the beginning of the human society and every community in the

world has been affected by crime and violence in one way or the other.

Thus, the greatest instrument of crime control in the traditional Old Oyo was usage

of the oracle especially the Ifa110. Ifa been a traditional and religious consultation of the

gods used in uncovering, revealing and discovering hidden secrets and exposing criminals

such as thieves, murderers, sorcerers, adulterers and other criminals. The oracles or gods

were widely consulted in detecting crimes and it is believed that miscarriage of justice rarely

38
occurred111. In recent times, the consultation of several oracles and gods are still been used

as a means of detecting crimes among the Oyo people even though it’s no longer as

pronounced and prominent as before owing to civilization. However, Iheriohamma (1997) is

of the opinion that it could be manipulated in certain circumstances to favour or disfavour

the clients112.

Furthermore, there were many ways of traditional crime control. For example,

swearing of oath and ordeal of different kinds. These methods were direct appeal to the

spiritual beings to show by miracle where the right lay. These forms of traditional methods

of crime control in Oyo town were administered through the use of metaphysical or mystical

powers to discover hidden secrets113. These methods were feared among the people and

this fear, contributed immensely to crime control. Based on this statement, J. S. Mbiti

supported the above explanation when he observed that: The gods are the most reliable

beings and also the powers that are capable of vindicating the just and expose as well as

punish the wicked. As custodians of morality, justice and sincerity, the ancestors, divinities

and other spiritual beings are invited to witness any social agreement between men and

fellow man. The belief is that God or some other higher beings greater than man will punish

the person who swears falsely or break the stipulations of the oath, agreement or

statement114 (Mbiti 1969).

Thus, all these crimes no matter how carefully manipulated, will be eventually

revealed and there was no time limit for their due penalties (Antia 2008)115. In addition, it

prevented wicked acts among the people because no matter how secret a particular crime

was, it was discovered and the defaulter or culprit was brought to “book” or punished

according to the laws of the land.

39
 In addition, the fear of the grave consequences of the outcome of consulting the

oracle and oaths sworn and taboos was a driving force in the maintenance of a high level of

morality by doing what is right, good and moral and avoiding what is evil, wrong and bad.

People fear being exposed through the instrumentality of oracle, therefore, is potent in

social control116. Consultation of oracles and swearing of oath was an effective traditional

instrument used by the people to discover the truth of a matter, discover hidden secrets

and to cast away doubt with reference to the validity and reliability of a statement or

accusation in any circumstances. And it would appear that the consultation of the oracles

and swearing of oath is usually the last resort when other avenues of crime detection have

failed to achieve the desired result (Udo 1983)117.

Furthermore, according to Essien (2005), the consultation of oracles seeks to

uncover hidden secrets and detect defaulters in the community. It unveiled secrets or fish

out culprits in a community or resolve difficult controversies in a community. Even though

civilization has affected the popular usage of the traditional methods of detecting crimes,

many people, educated and uneducated, rural or urban dwellers, still patronize the diviners

to unravel miseries and know a culprit118.

Thus, the consultation of the oracles is concerned with deciding a person’s guilt or

innocence in a matter in which the truth is hidden. The people consulted the oracles to find

the truth about disputed issues where the truth cannot be easily ascertain. In the practice of

the Oyo people, if a person or a group of persons accused of an unjust or wicked act or

crime denied the charge, and there was some doubt about the validity of the accusation,

the accused would still be summoned to appear before the Ogboni traditional court or

council in the town119. The accused person or group of persons would be asked to prove his

or their innocence by undergoing an ordeal, the performance of these ordeals usually

40
created periods of panic, anxiety and suspense for both the accused and the curious,

suspecting and desperate parties120. Thus, the anxiety is greater for both parties.

However, the result of the ordeal takes immediate effect before the very eyes of the

people who are watching curiously to know the decision of the oracle. Among the people,

the ordeal is administered on an accused person or persons when other instruments of

crime detection have failed and consulting the oracle becomes the last resort. Anyone found

guilty through the ordeal was made to face public scorn, ridicule, disgrace and

stigmatization in addition to facing the official punishment prescribed by the king or

priest121 (Ukong 2006).

On the administration of ordeal through the use of Ifa and other oracles consisted of

various types depending on the one preferred by the authorities or parties involved, the

priest says a special prayer, invoking the powers of the gods of justice, truth and morality in

Oyo town. Among the things he says in the prayer and invocation is that the gods and spirits

thus invoked should prove before the waiting and anxious community the innocence or guilt

of the accused about to be tried. The priest then ends the prayer and invocation by pouring

the traditional libation and proceeding to the administration of the desired type of oracle.

However, irrespective of the means used, certain agents and means of crime control

have come to be commonly identified by this direction. Among the agents used are

association like age – grades, social clubs and vigilant groups122. Omagu observed that, age –

grade organization played very significant role in the socio-cultural life of the people. It

performed both social and political functions; and inculcate healthy ideas and objectives in

their members and further act as a disciplinary body for erring members 123. This was done

by subjecting such members who violate the societal (social) norms to sanctions and

punishment. Talboth (1999) buttresses this assertion and noted that age – grades are very

41
essential in the chain of government and without them the administrative function could

hardly be carried out. Specifically age – grades often called (odo) looked after maintenance

of peace and order and other developmental projects; others act as police in the

community124.

Another method employed traditionally in crime control was the vigilante groups who acted

as police in the various areas they subsist. They were watchmen, guards, members of the

communities are organized to suppress and punish crime.

2.5. JUSTICE SYSTEM, PENAL CODE AND PUNISHMENTS METHODS

Before 1900, the year in which English law was introduced into Nigeria, there was no

organization of courts in the modern sense, but obas and chiefs presided over all types of

cases. The chiefs, including other high title holders, were assisted by some selected elders in

the family to preside over cases125. At this period, these institutions used the services of

witch-doctors, traditional priests and oracles to reach final judgments in extraordinary cases

(cases in which proof was difficult). In effect, there was a hierarchy ranging from the Family

to the traditional Priests Courts.

The Family Court

The family court dealt and still deals with minor disputes between family members. It is

presided over by the head of the family referred to as (Olori Ebi), assisted by other elders of

the family. This court had authority to hear minor civil cases or disputes. Under normal

circumstances, it is rare in minor civil disputes of these kinds for a party to be wholly right or

wholly wrong126. Members of this court would not be slow to point out the errors of

commission or omission even of the party who was judged to be right. The aim of this court

was and still is to bury the dispute, that is, to end it forever. The disputants might be asked

42
to share a piece of kola nut. Those present at the court always took and still take part in the

reconciliation ceremony by partaking of the kola nut presented by the two disputants. This

court may refer serious civil cases to the chief’s court or council of elders’ court. In serious

land disputes, the case might be appealed to the traditional priest’s court or oath- swearing

court.

The Chief’s Court

Next in hierarchy was the Chief’s Court which had the same jurisdiction as the council of

elders’ court. The chiefs or council of elders’ courts had jurisdiction over criminal offenses.

Some public offenses were also tried in this court, then known as the “open court”127. It was

called an “open court” because it could be held in a marketplace or at a popular “shrine.” It

was held in such holy places, because it controlled perjury and some other malpractices of

the court.

The accused person was arraigned before the ruling authorities, presided over by the chief

of the community, and was given every opportunity to defend him/herself. If he or she was

found guilty in a serious case like witchcraft, he/she could be publicly hanged 128. Some

public offenses, usually of a religious or political nature, were tried by the secret societies 129.

The Ogboni society handled the most serious criminal offenses and was usually responsible

for the execution of their judgments.

Traditional Priest Court

The Priest Court served as the Supreme Court. All appeals went to the juju priest

court. It handled the most difficult civil and criminal cases. Its decision was final in any

particular case. This court could rain down misfortune on the guilty party. In pre-colonial,

there existed strong bonds of moral solidarity engendered by religion130. Violation of these

moral bonds, was grounds for inflicting punishment. Nwankwo argued that the intensity,

43
severity, and certainty of such punishments of violators reaffirmed and also strengthened

the social bonds that existed in that era131. Nwankwo contended that the moral aspect of

the indigenous people of Nigeria was not a penal code or written laws, nor was it well

emphasized like that of the colonial and the postcolonial eras132.

Rather, it was the positive moral code of the people that induced an offender to confess his

or her offense. In fact, crimes were not “given” or “natural” categories, to which the

indigenous people simply responded133. Pre-colonial was simple, or primitive, with

witchcraft as the most serious crime, punishable by death134. In other words, crimes were

not merely violations of prohibitions or preventions made for rational social defense; rather,

they were violations of the moral bonds that tied people together.

Crimes in pre-colonial Oyo were those acts, which seriously violated indigenous people’s

“collective conscience”135. They were essentially violations of the fundamental moral code

which was held sacred, and they provoked punishment for this reason. In fact, the

fundamental nature of social rules was not simple, as in other mechanical societies. As a

result, the perpetrators of the crime of witchcraft were punished by death rather than

restitutive laws, and other regulatory sanctions were levied against the crimes of murder,

burglary, theft, etc. The crime of witchcraft evoked moral emotions and was a “shock” to all

good consciences; consequently, punishment by death was demanded more than any other

type of sanction.

Durkheim (1933:4) has argued that it is the connection with sacred things and fundamental

values which gives crime a grave moral significance and which necessitates a punitive

response. This situation caused pre-colonial Nigerians to be perceived as a kind of

priesthood charged with protecting sacred values in order to keep the faith inherited from

their great-grandparents. Since faith was a symbol and living expression of that era’s

44
collective beliefs, offenses against the gods became offenses against the “collective

conscience”136.

It has been noted by Adewoye that the trial of criminal offenses was not devoid of

consideration for peacekeeping and harmonious interpersonal relations 137. According to

Adewoye, theft in the pre-colonial era of Nigeria was often considered a very serious

offense; the thief was punished not so much for his or her theft, but for the mistrust which

he or she was believed to have introduced into the community by his or her act 138. Penalties

under the indigenous law were directed not against specific infractions of the law, but

towards restoration of the social equilibrium. A crime was viewed as a disturbance of

individual or communal “equilibrium”139. The objective of imposing sanctions in this era was

to restore the persisting balance.

In addition, virtually all other offenses (except for witchcraft, the penalty for which was

death) that would rank as crimes in the English-style courts could be neutralized by payment

of adequate compensation to the injured party140. However, intentional murder could be

settled by heavy compensation and the making of necessary sacrifices. It was reported that

a man convicted of a crime punishable by death could avoid capital punishment by paying a

very large indemnity, in addition to compensation to the injured party141.

Murderers were ostracised from the town after which he could return in some cases,

provided that the necessary sacrifices were made. A similar observation was made by

Chinua Achebe in his book entitled, Things Fall Apart (1959); Okonkwo unintentionally killed

his kinsman and was exiled for 7 years, but came back at the expiration date and performed

some sacrifices to Ani the land of his great-grandfathers, which he had defiled with the

blood of a kinsman142.

45
In each circumstance, the welfare of the community was the primary concern of criminal

sanctions in the traditional era of Nigeria. It has been further noted that a criminal offender

or a deviant could be accepted back into the community or into the society once the

necessary compensations or ritual sacrifices were made. This was an indication that he had

purged himself of his antisocial pattern of behavior. Another significant feature of the old

Oyo was a strong belief in the spirits of departed ancestors143. There was also the belief that

the community was a continuous entity made up of the dead, the living, and unborn

generations144. The ancestors were believed to be particularly interested in the solidarity of

the community, and therefore in the whole procedure of keeping the peace and of

administering justice. The law itself was believed to have the moral support of the

ancestors—a potent factor “in securing due regard for the law”145.

The chief, title holders, and elders in the community who administered the customary law

were in popular estimation the representatives of the ancestors. These leaders believed that

they were under the constant watch of the ancestors. When a dispute occurred or an

offense was committed, it served no useful purpose for the parties or accused persons to

fabricate lies at the chief’s court or council of elders’ court because of the belief in being

watched by the gods and by departed ancestors. There was a strong belief that these gods

and the ancestors watched individual consciences146.

Besides, there were beliefs in other unseen supernatural forces capable of exacting

retributive justice147. The strong belief in these gods and the ancestors helped to regulate

behavior and also limited perjury in the indigenous Nigerian courts. In serious cases,

whenever there were doubts about whether or not the accused had committed the crime,

ordeals were used148. The use of ordeals, again, resulted from the belief in the supernatural

unseen gods. This was prefixed on the belief that if human attempts at getting at the truth

46
failed, at least the unseen forces would not err149. The accuser, the accused, or the suspect

was subjected to an ordeal, and was believed to be innocent if he survived it.

Adewoye noted that a variant of the ordeal was juju swearing (i. e., taking of an oath), which

acted also as a supreme court. The result was always the final judgment of the case in

doubt.

Known Offenders

Elias noted that the procedure adopted was stricter in a chief’s court than in a family

court150. According to Elias, the essentials were, however, seldom dissimilar. In a case of an

incorrigible robber or other habitual criminal, when a person had become such a notorious

criminal that his guilt was not in doubt, the populace were invited to witness the trial and

punishment to serve as deterrence to others151. The case against the criminal was then fully

explained to the public by the leader of the council of elders and thereafter, the preferred

judgement will be passed.

The presence of the public from within and without similarly served to guarantee the

fairness of the proceeding and to ensure the guilt of the accused according to the accepted

standards of intertribal law and comity152. In the case of witchcraft, there was peremptory

dispatch of the accused without prior adduction of evidence to ascertain his innocence or

guilt153. His evil ways must have been noted over the years so that when he was brought to

the public for execution, no prior adduction of evidence was needed. As the witch, she must

have applied dangerous poisons to some rival neighbors’ farms; she must have made many

women barren, all of her confessional statements must have been checked and proved

beyond reasonable doubt. Her execution was publicly performed by burning alive,

beheading, or beating her to death by the crowd.

47
Offenders Unknown

It is a known fact that no trial or legal punishment would take place where the wrongdoer

was yet to be identified and brought before the chief’s or council of elders’ court. To help in

the identification of the unknown culprit, the community resorted to various expedients in

particular. Ordeals, oath swearing, and divination were and still are the three principal

modes of appeal to the supernatural, employed in the detection of crime 154. The diviners,

collectively known as (Babalawo), were believed to have a magical or supernatural origin of

intelligence, able to prove hidden events.

They used all sorts of things in the process of their divination—cowry shells, bowls of water,

sand in a sack, etc. These articles or objects were manipulated to yield an answer to

coincide with the diviner’s personal predilections, largely if not entirely induced by his

balancing of probabilities for or against certain suspected individuals155. Elias noted that

divination, as employed in the detection of crime by African societies in general and

Nigerians in particular, had no judicial character, but was a prelude either to the ordeal or to

the oath-swearing, which were both “legal,” in that they were collectively agreed upon

during that period156.

In criminal cases, such as sorcery or witchcraft, the penalty was death by spearing, burning,

hanging, or impalement of the convicted person. For lesser crimes, as well as for cases of

compoundable murder, fines and other compensatory payments were normally decreed157.

These tended to be rigidly enforced, and there was little disposition either on the part of the

elders or of the parties to compromise on the fixed rate of penalty payable. It depended on

the discretion chief or council of elders peremptorily decreeing what must be paid to

assuage injured feelings in cases of physical impairment or loss of a blood relation. Young

offenders were often flogged or whipped publicly158. There was no widespread use of

48
imprisonment as an indigenous institution for punishing a criminal. There was, however, an

established practice concerning debtors. The imprisonment of debtors in rarely cancelled

the debt, and was a way of exacting interest159. Every rich man kept his own criminals in

prison for offenses such as disobedience, drunkenness, etc. Elias stated that criminals were

usually detained in the prison of the Ogboni society.

49
 CHAPTER 3

3.1. Emergence of the British Colonial Government

The Portuguese, who visited the coasts of West Africa in the fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries, did so for a number of reasons. One of these and perhaps the most important

was the urge in Europe during this period to establish a sea route, possibly along the coast

of Africa, to India and the Spice Islands. What brought about this urge were the

inconveniences encountered by the European traders in these areas along the Overland

routes. These overland routes along the bank of the Mediterranean Sea ran through

important towns like Milan, Florence, Genoa and Venice. In each of these towns traders

from Europe often paid tolls for going through them160.

In addition, some vagabonds had made these routes terribly unsafe to traders; in fact, they

had converted them into a den of highway robbers. The end result of these inconveniences

was the sky rocketing prices of article from the Far East, such articles like pepper, ginger and

spices became luxurious articles for a significant number of people in Europe. It was the

uneven social situations caused by these high prices that inspired some people in Europe to

look for an alternative route to India possibly along the coast of West Africa, since the sea

which was going to be the highway was nobody’s property161.

Also, there was the intention to spread Christianity and European brand of civilization to

what the Europeans described as the ‘lost’ peoples of Africa, also, the urge in Europe during

the period to look for the empire of a mighty African ruler called ‘Prester John’ who, they

thought, could help them in their task of Christianising and civilising the ‘unfortunate’ and

‘primitive inhabitants of the Dark Continent’162. It was also thought that this famous king

50
would certainly be willing to begin with Europe a profitable trade, particularly in gold, gold

dust, diamond and other mineral deposits which were believed to exist in abundance in this

place. Also, their visits were motivated by the burning desire of some Europeans to collect

more knowledge about the biological structures of the peoples of other lands as well as the

types of life led by them163.

Unfortunately, when the Europeans got to Africa, rather than trading with the inhabitants of

the continent which was one of the intentions that brought the Europeans to Africa, they

began to capture and transport them as articles of commodity to the other part of the

world. This trade started as a result of unconsciously discovery of the New World (South and

North America and West Indies) by Spain and later Britain, Holland and France164. Soon after

the discovery, they began to establish plantations where tea, plantain, sugar, cotton, ginger

and coffee were planted, particularly in the tropical and sub tropical areas of both North

and south Indies as well as in the two Americas. Efforts were made to mine the mineral

deposits that were available in large quantities in the land165.

Initially, the native people (Aborigines and Red Indians) were at first utilized as slave labour

by Europeans until a large number died from overwork and Old World diseases, moreover,

the Red Indians were not strong enough to do such heavy work. Alternative sources of

labour, such as indentured servitude, failed to provide a sufficient workforce. A vast amount

of labour was needed to create and sustain plantations that required intensive labour to

grow, harvest, and process prized tropical crops166. The basic reason for the constant

shortage of labour was that, with large amounts of cheap land available and lots of

landowners searching for workers, free European immigrants were able to become

landowners themselves after a relatively short time, thus increasing the need for workers.

51
According to Thomas Jefferson, he attributed the use of slave labour in part to the climate,

and the consequent idle leisure afforded by slave labour: "For in a warm climate, no man

will labour for himself who can make another labour for him. This is so true, that of the

proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed is ever seen to labour" 167.

These were the reasons for slave trade and slave trade continued for over two hundred

years without any of the perpetrators not wanting it to end or stop, because of its

profitability and gains made from the trade, and not minding the inhuman sufferings and

cries of the slaves. Even though the slave traders were blind folded by the profit they were

making from the trade and showed no interest in stopping the obnoxious trade, still there

were a section of people in Europe who considered it a natural injustice to keep fellow men

in perpetual bondage and under deplorable conditions168.

These people, majority of who were church leaders, argued that it was crime against

humanity and before God to enslave others. As early as 1514, Pope Leo X commented on

this, also Pastor Las Casas who made the suggestion that started the trade, later came out

to protest strongly against the inhuman treatments meted out to the slaves by their

masters169. In the 18th century, opposition developed against the slave trade in Britain,

America, and some parts of Europe. In Britain and America, opposition to the trade was led

by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and establishment Evangelicals such as William

Wilberforce. People who protested against the trade were opposed by the owners of land

and colonial holdings. Most of who could have protested in the parliament or in the society

was themselves plantation or mine owners who needed slaves to serve them170. However,

after much pressure and persuasion and the emergence of industrial revolution in the

western world, slave trade was abolished.

52
In the 19th century the economic interests of Britain and the other major European powers

actually led to even more interference in Africa's affairs even after the official abolition of

the slave trade. By the end of that century the rivalry between the major powers culminated

in what The Times referred to as the 'Scramble for Africa'171. All the major powers invaded

the African continent and established colonial rule.

The "Scramble for Africa" was the occupation, division, and colonisation of African territory

by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is

also called the Partition of Africa and by some the Conquest of Africa172. In 1870, only 10

percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to almost 90

percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (a portion of

present-day Somalia) and Liberia still being independent173.

The Berlin Conference November,1884 to February 1885, which was called by the German

Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck to avert war amongst the Major European Powers. It was

meant to divide the territories of Africa amongst them and each nation would have its areas

of political, economic and social hegemony174. The final agreements reached at the

conference, regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, and are usually referred to

as the starting point of the scramble for Africa. Consequent to the political and economic

rivalries among the European empires in the last quarter of the 19th century, the

partitioning, or splitting up of Africa was how the Europeans avoided warring amongst

themselves over Africa. The later years of the 19th century saw the transition from

"informal imperialism" (hegemony), by military influence and economic dominance, to

direct rule, bringing about colonial imperialism.175

53
The scramble for and the eventual partitioning of African land could also be termed as

Imperialism. This is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and

maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples176. Scholars frequently use the

term more restrictively: Some associate imperialism solely with the economic expansion of

capitalist states; others reserve it for European expansion after 1870. Although imperialism

is similar in meaning to colonialism, and the two terms are sometimes used

interchangeably, they should be distinguished177.

Colonialism usually implies formal political control, involving territorial annexation and loss

of sovereignty. Imperialism refers; more broadly, to control or influence that is exercised

either formally or informally, directly or indirectly, politically or economically. In the case of

Africa, both terms are accurate, in the sense that between the 1860s and early 1960s and in

some cases 70s, Africa was wholly dominated and controlled by European powers in all

ramifications178.

However, various motives were adduced or given for the scramble and eventual partitioning

of African territories amongst European powers. Historically, states have been motivated to

pursue imperialism for a variety of reasons, which may be classified broadly as economic,

political, and ideological179. Theories of imperialism break down similarly, according to

which motive or motives are viewed as primary.

The British unquestionably benefited economically from their control of Nigeria, but, to

their credit, they also endeavoured to create a colony in which the subject peoples would

ultimately be able to take over the country's administration179. Side by side with the British

Government / commercial and religious groups with economic and religious motives, moved

into Nigeria and introduced new concepts and practices of the western world. Barriers to

54
effective administration and rapid advancement of native authority during the initial stages

of British control were due, not to the shortcomings of the British Administrators, but,

rather, in large measure to the traditions and social structures of the various peoples 180.

Moreover, sufficient revenue was not available due to the underdeveloped

economic resources and because local taxation was not introduced in the early days of the

British administration. Assistance in the form of revenue came from the British Government

and commercial groups181. By the end of the Second World War administrative progress was

encouraging, and radical approaches to democratic self-government reached a high peak.

The process of transition to full-scale democracy on the British model proceeded rapidly182.

Furthermore, the British Government assisted the establishment of popularly

elected majorities. The executive councils were taken over by politicians drawn from and

responsible to the majorities. The system of one man, one vote was initiated. In general,

Britain was remarkably successful in training Nigerians to assume control of their country,

and the British efforts cannot be erased from the history books or from the minds of many

Nigerians. The result was a united, viable, and independent Nigeria.

3.2. British Culture and Tradition and New Political Order

Direct British influence in the tribes of Upper and Lower Niger, which later became

Nigeria, may said to date from 1849, when British trades along the Bights of Benin and

Biafra request that a consul be sent to them183. Because of their request, Mr. J. Beecroft was

posted there as the first British consul, with Fernando Po as the headquarters: Fernando Po,

now called Equatorial Guinea was discovered by the Portuguese towards the end of the

15th century, had been ceded to Spain in the 1778, but it was only in the 1827 that Spain

permitted the British to take over the administration of the island. The British

55
superintendent was granted a Spanish commission as governor. Mr. Beecroft had been

appointed governor in 1843 by the Queen of Spain, as there was no Spanish governor of the

island till 1858184.

The first actual involvement of the British personnel in the tribes of Upper and Lower

Niger, which later became Nigeria was the affair of Lagos. On January 1, 1852, a treaty was

signed between King Akitoye, chief of Lagos, and Commodore Henry William Bruce, who

was at that time commander–in-chief of Her Majesty’s vessels on the west coast of Africa,

and Mr. Beecroft on behalf of the Queen of England. The three major goals of the treaty

were to abolish the slave trade, to encourage legitimate trade, and to protect Christian

missionaries.

To ensure compliance with this treaty, a vice-consul was appointed for Lagos and the

Bight of Benin. By this appointment, Lagos, according to Elisa, separated from the oil rivers

(the River Niger, Benue, Bonny, Antonio, and Cross Rivers) until 1906. Akitoye was

determined to honor the treaty, but revolted under the leadership of Kosoko. Consul

Campbell felt compelled to intervene in order to protect the consulate and the missionaries.

The British defeated Kosoko and his followers185. However, the British government

accordingly instructed Mr. H. G. Foote, who was then the consul, to prepare for the

occupation of Lagos “because they are convinced that the permanent occupation of this

important point in the Bight of Benin is indispensable to the complete suppression of the

slave trade in the Bight, while it would give great aid and support to the development of

lawful commerce, and would check the aggressive spirit of the King of Dahomey, whose

barbarous wars, and encouragement to slave trading, were the chief cause of disorder in

that part of Africa186.

56
 Elias noted that in the following month, on July 30, 1861, the acting consul (Mr.

McCoskry) and Commander Bedingfield, the senior naval officer of the Bights Division,

invited Dosumu to a meeting on board the H. M. S. Prometheus (a British warship) lying in

Lagos harbor, and told him about the proposed occupation of the island (Lagos) 187.

According to Elias188, Dosumu had referred the matter to his chiefs. Two days later, they

both went to Dosumu’s house for a reply and found that he had been persuaded to refuse

on the main ground that the treaty of cession, which had been drawn up locally, could not

have been done on the instructions of the British government. Before they left, Dosumu was

told that Lagos would be formally occupied in the name of the Queen of England, if by

August 6, 1861, he did not agree to cede to the British crown.

Elias also noted that King Dosumu and his chiefs reacted sharply against this

ultimatum by threatening to use force, if necessary, in resisting British occupation. The

presence of H. M. S. Prometheus within gunshot of the town, the party of armed marines

that accompanied the consul and Commander Bedingfield to their second meeting with

Dosumu at the latter’s invitation put pressure on Dosumu to comply with the British

request189.

On August 6, 1861, according to Elias190, King Decemo and four leading chiefs of

Lagos signed the treaty of cession at the British consulate. The British flag was unfurled after

a proclamation that the British had taken possession of Lagos in the name of the Queen of

England. Lagos was made a colony and settlement in 1862 and placed under the authority of

Mr. H. S. Freeman as governor. The new colony steadily grew with Badagry, Palma, and

Lekki (town around Lagos Island), followed later by Epe, Jekri, and others.

This expansion, according to Elias, took place in all directions as far inland as the

heart of Yorubaland191. Legitimate trade and commerce increased rapidly. Elias noted that

57
within a few months after the establishment of the new settlement (June 1862), a legislative

council was set up to assist Governor Freeman in the task of administration 192. The council

existed until 1922, and throughout its short life it always maintained an official majority,

although it varied in it’s composition from time to time193.

Furthermore, at the time of its dissolution it consisted of the British Governor as the

president, six British officials, and four unofficial members, two of whom were Africans194.

Ordinance No. 3 of 1863 of January 1, 1863 introduced English law into the colony at Lagos

and the surrounding areas to take effect from March 4, 1863. The Supreme Court Ordinance

No. 11 of April 9, 1863 provided for the better administration of justice within the

settlement of Lagos. The British penetration into the hinterland of Lagos had reached such a

stage that the colony and protectorate of Lagos had covered most of Yorubaland by 1906.

In that year, the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria was formed by the

amalgamation of Freeman’s enlarged colony and protectorate of Lagos with the

protectorate of Southern Nigeria, which had been established six years earlier195. Lagos

remained the headquarters of the new administration which was divided into the western,

the central, and the eastern provinces. The western provinces corresponded to the colony

and protectorate of Lagos, while the central and the eastern provinces together made up

the former protectorate of Lower Nigeria tribes, Warri being the headquarters of the central

provinces and Calabar that of the eastern provinces196. Each of the provinces was placed

under a provincial commissioner. All of these commissioners were subject to the direct

control of the British Governor, whose seat was in Lagos. Sir Walter Egerton was appointed

in 1904 both as governor of Lagos and as high commissioner of Southern Nigeria with a view

to his organizing the amalgamation of 1906197.

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3.3. Political Structure and Government by the Colonialists

According to traditional setup, Nigeria is made up of a number of large ancient kingdoms

and other independent small-scale societies. Its boundaries were drawn as a result of trade

and overseas territorial ambitions of some Western European powers in the nineteenth

century. Flora Shaw suggested the name Nigeria in 1898198. She later became Lady Lugard to

designate the British Protectorate on the River Niger. Contact between the peoples of

Nigeria and Europe began in the fifteenth century through various commercial explorers. By

early nineteenth century, the obnoxious trade in slaves, which had flourished in the region,

was in the process of being abolished199.

Consequently, European traders began to turn their attention to trading in palm

produce, pepper, ivory and other articles up to the middle of the nineteenth century, British

trading activities were confined to Lagos and Delta ports of old Calabar, Brass and Bonny.

However, the need to expand trade to the hinterland and to undermine the coastal middle

men led the British to some involvement in local politics200. Thus, their interferences in

Lagos politics following some internal squabbles among the ruling houses were necessitated

by a desire to secure the territory in the interest of trade with the Yoruba hinterland. This

interference resulted in Lagos being annexed in 1861 when it became a British colony. In

order to render the River Niger as a safe gateway into the interior, protectorates were

proclaimed in the Delta regions as far north as to Idah 201. In 1885, the Niger Protectorate

was proclaimed oil rivers protectorate and administered by the Royal Niger Company. When

the Royal Niger Company’s Charter was withdrawn in January 1900, the whole of Nigeria

came under direct Colonial administration. The territory was then divided into three main

regions202:

(i) The Lagos Colony (1861–1960)

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(ii) The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria (1900–1914)

(ii) The Protectorate of Northern Nigeria (1900–1914)

In 1914, Sir Frederick Lugard merged the Protectorates of Southern Nigeria. The

whole country then became known as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Lugard

became its first Governor-general and ruled till 1919.

Sir Hugh Clifford (1919–1925),

Sir Arthur Richards (1943–48),

Sir John McPherson (1948–54), and

Sir James Robertson (1954–60) succeeded him203.

After a series of negotiations, Nigeria finally got her independence October 1, 1960.

Lord Lugard, the successor of Sir Egerton, conceived the idea of amalgamation, which would

reduce the territories to single administration, but he was soon transferred to Hong Kong as

governor204. Elias noted that after an interval of six years, Lugard was brought back to the

Upper and lower Niger tribes (which later became Nigeria) by the British government as

governor of both protectorates and was also given the specific assignment of working out

the necessary machinery for the merger of the two disparate administrations into a single

central government205.

Lugard quickly gained the support and assistance of the two chief justices of

northern and southern tribes and of the senior administrative personnel. On January 1,

1914, the colony and protectorate of Nigeria was formally inaugurated under Sir Frederick

Lugard as governor-general206. That is to say, that it was in 1914 that the name “Nigeria”

came into being. Lugard’s successors in Nigeria were referred to as governors until Nigeria

60
was turned into a federation on October 1, 1954, when the title of governor-general was

again conferred on the country’s chief executive, a Briton207.

In addition, one of the important effects of the amalgamation of southern tribes

(Yoruba tribe, including Lagos, Ibo and other small tribes) and northern tribes (Hausa, Fulani,

and other smaller tribes), in the judicial sphere, was the introduction of the unified legal

system throughout Nigeria. This led to the appointment of two chief justices, one for north

and for the south, one chief justice and one attorney general for the whole of Nigeria. Elias

noted that under the central government formed in 1914 and enlarged in 1964, a legislature

was established, consisting of the governor, a Briton, as president, seven British officials,

two British non-officials, and two Nigerians, of whom one was Mr. Christopher A. Sapara-

Williams208.

3.4. British Crime Detection Methods and Control

This new government was based on the interpretation Act of 1964: Section 45 of the

Interpretation Acts of 1964 reads as follows209:

45. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, and except in so far as other provision is

made by any Federal law, the common law of England and the doctrines of Equity, together

with the statutes of general application that were in force in England on the 1st day of

January 1900, shall be enforced in Lagos, and in so far as they relate to any matter within

the exclusive legislative competence of the Federal legislatures shall be in force elsewhere in

the Federation.

(2) Such imperial laws shall be in force so far only as the limits of the local jurisdiction and

local circumstances shall permit, and subject to any Federal law.

(3) For the purpose of facilitating the application of the said imperial laws they shall be read

with such formal verbal alterations not affecting the substance as to names, localities,

61
courts, officers, persons, moneys, penalties and otherwise as may be necessary to render

the same applicable to the circumstances210.

The complete English common law and equity form parts of the Nigerian law,

together with certain English statutes were established. Park noted that there are provisions

similar to section 45 of the interpretation act in force in Eastern and Northern Nigeria, but in

1959, the western region (Yoruba tribes) broke away to some extent from the traditional

pattern. English common law and equity are still part of the law of that jurisdiction211, but

that is no longer true of any English statutes.

In all these jurisdictions the reception of English law is subject to section 45(1) of the

interpretation act “except in so far as other provision is made by any federal law”212. This

general provision can carry at least three different specific meanings. First, it may taken to

mean that the received English law may be amended, repealed, reformed, added to, or

abolished by enactments of the Nigerian legislatures.

Secondly, it can be a reference to the statutory rules, which affect specific

introductions into Nigerian law of the British law on particular subjects (such as probate,

divorce, and matrimonial cases and proceedings). In addition, the third type of the Nigerian

statutory rule covered by the phrase is that which provides for the continued operation of

customary law, despite the general reception of English law213. The change to English

common law and equity also changed the criminal code. Witchcraft, which was a serious

crime punishable with death in the Upper and Lower Niger tribes, was repealed and

replaced by treason and treachery214.

British Nigeria did not make use of confinement or cleansing as an administrative style, but

the colonial government did use other administrative styles: cloning and “indirect rule,” a

type of native administration, whereby the indigenous taxation system and the

62
administration of native justice were given to the local chiefs and Obas, who were in turn

authorized and supervised by the colonial governor215.It was also referred to as a cloning

strategy, whereby the indigenous cultures of the tribes that made up Nigeria were cloned

into the British culture216.

This type of administration as noted by Crowder, depended on indigenous chiefs; that is to

say that its had little power alternative to the use of existing political authorities as a means

of governing their protectorates. Consequently, indirect rule created inequality of power

and position in the British system. The chiefs, under the indirect rule system of British

Nigeria, ruled as “sole native authorities”217.They were permitted to administer traditional

justice, which in the case of certain emirs in the Moslem areas of the north, included trying

cases of murder for which a death sentence, subject to confirmation by the governor, could

be imposed218.

Furthermore, these chiefs and emirs were elected to office by traditional methods of

selection, and only in the case of the election of a patently unsuitable candidate to office

would the colonial power refuse recognition219. The system of indirect rule, in British Nigeria

with modifications, was practiced whenever possible in British colonies in West Africa and in

most of her other African territories220.

However, there were notable exceptions, for instance in Eastern Nigeria, where the absence

of identifiable executive authority in most communities made indirect rule as practiced in

Northern Nigeria almost impossible to apply. In such societies as in Iboland, the British

assiduously made chiefs or invented them through democratically elected councils closely

corresponding to the traditional methods of delegating authority221.

According to Crowder222, the chiefs were the agents of the colonial power for carrying out

its more unpopular measures, such as collecting taxes and recruiting for labor. In most parts

63
of West Africa, French colonies resented their chiefs, although the chiefs retained no

traditional judicial authority such as that of their counterparts in British West Africa in their

native courts. They were just agents of the law223. In theory, these local chiefs ruled under

the guidance of the local administrator; in practice, they were the scapegoats who were

made responsible for the collections of money and men. For instance, Greene documented

this servile relationship in a speech made by the first colonial governor-general of Nigeria in

Sokoto, a town in Northern Nigeria224. He stated: The government holds the right of taxation

and will tell the emirs and chiefs what taxes they may levy and what part of them must be

paid to the government225.

In return, the chiefs and emirs enjoyed the colonial administrator’s favor. They had certain

privileges, usually good houses and land, and in a few cases subsidies; but “unless they were

completely subservient, they risked dismissal, prison, and exile”226.

Different type of courts during the colonial era

With the police in place, the new governor Mr. Henry S. Freeman who arrived in Lagos on

February 22, 1862 to take up responsibility as the first Governor of the Colony of Lagos

established four different courts—a police court, a commercial court, a criminal court, and a

slave court227.

The police court, manned exclusively by the police, settled all petty cases.

The criminal court, chaired by a stipendiary magistrate assisted by two British (illiterate)

merchants as assessors, handled the more serious cases.

The slave court (staffed exactly like the criminal court) heard cases relating to slavery.

64
The commercial court, manned exclusively by British merchants, handled all cases of debts

and breach of contract228. From the organizational set up it was evident that he intends to

use the newly organized government force to “keep order and maintain law” 229.

British Crime Detection Methods and Techniques

Following conquest, colonial rule was consolidated through a system that subjugated the

existing traditional informal law enforcement mechanism with the forceful imposition of the

Western idea of policing.

Thus, the colonialists introduced new laws, which replaced, or seriously threatened the

efficacy of native laws and customs, traditional religions and other sanctions, as well as

indigenous tribunals and justice230.

Colonial Nigerian society had a well-defined structure and organization as well as a central

dynamic, which shaped social life in a specific way, and had a link with politics and

economics231. As a result of the politics and economics during this era, the institutions of

law, politics, morality, philosophy, and religion were forcibly adapted to fit the conditions of

economic life and were able to take on forms and values which were in keeping with the

dominant mode of production232. The criminal code of law during this era, which

emphasized treason and treachery (political crimes) as the most serious crimes, gave

expression to a specific form of fear and economic relationships which were necessary to

maintain for survival and well-being. Historically, the British form of law introduced into

Nigeria on March 4, 1863 designed to safeguard the well-being and survival of the British

socially, politically, and economically. In the courtroom, Nigerian defendants were seen as

legal subjects, bearing all the attributes of free will, responsibility, and hedonistic

psychology, which the British deemed applicable no matter how far the actualities of the

case departed from this ideal.

65
The Need for Nigerian Police

At the beginning of the British expedition, it was obvious that while Akitoye was willing to

sign the British treaty in order to become king, he was not willing to cede Lagos to the

British. When he died in 1853, he was succeeded by his son Dosunmu, who in turn was

pressured into signing a treaty agreeing to British occupation of Lagos. This period between

1852 and 1861 was a period of informal jurisdiction and had an important bearing on the

origin, development, and role of the modern Nigerian police that began in Lagos233.

From what is now known and has been written by authors like Ikime, Elias, and Ahire, it is

quite clear that Lagos was not bombarded in 1851 because Kosoko was a notorious slave

trader, nor did the British take over full powers in 1861 because Dosunmu, the new Oba,

had revived the slave trade. The real issue, therefore, was the British determination to

control the trade of Lagos and the Yoruba hinterland. However, it was not long before they

realized that the organizational arrangement in the Lagos area during that period failed to

provide the necessary security for commercial and other pursuits.

Apart from the succession debacles which later plagued Lagos in the 1940s and 1950s, there

were other developments in the region that had important bearings on the security of

Lagos. These events were the consequences of the Yoruba wars of the 19th century which

threatened the security of areas like Ikorodu and Egbaland, which were Lagos’s next-door

neighboring kingdoms. Particularly alarming was the reality of the alliance between the

exiled King Kosoko and King Ghezo of Dahomey, which threatened lives and the chances of

“legitimate” commerce on Lagos Island234.

Common sense and prudence, therefore, dictated anxiety on the part of the British Consul

and European residents to have armed forces at their disposal to protect their commercial

interests. In response Consul Foote proposed the establishment of a consular guard of 100

66
men to be permanently stationed in Lagos, and controlled by consular agents. This marked

the first idea of a police force in colonial Nigeria. Foote’s request, however, was turned

down because of the reluctance of the Foreign Office to commit British capital to Lagos

without assurance of any returns.

Unlike in Britain, Ahire argues that the emerging ruling class in colonial Nigeria was a foreign

and illegitimate one which sought to dominate and exploit the indigenous people in the

interest of its own metropolitan (British) economy235. The effort of this foreign ruling class

to subdue the indigenous people, and to impose a careful surveillance over them in order to

forestall any popular rebellion, created an obsession with the policing of public order.

The Early Hausa Police

In 1861 Acting Governor of Lagos Colony, McCoskry, therefore organized and established

the nucleus of the first police force—a Hausa constabulary of 30 men236. This formation

marked the beginning of the first modern police in the history of Lagos. It was also the first

modern police force in the territories later designated Nigeria by the British237.

One distinctive feature of the Hausa constabulary was that it was mainly military in

character, although the men did perform some civil police duties. For this, Ahire points out

that the 19th-century policing in Britain cannot be substituted wholesale for the policing

experience of colonial Nigeria, even though its basic logic is generally relevant 238. For

modern historians the paramilitary nature of the new police symbolizes the evidence of

imperial authority in Lagos. The police performed essentially beat duties at the trading

depots of the British merchants, and were the object of incessant attacks from the public

who resented their presence.

In the next year the strength of the constabulary was augmented to 100 men to form the

“Armed Police Force.” By October 1863 the strength rose to 600 and was called the “Armed

67
Hausa Police Force,” because it consisted mainly of Hausa-speaking ex-slaves from Sierra

Leone239. Earlier, in 1862, a battalion of the West Indian Regiment had been moved from

Gambia to Lagos to complement the new police force.

With the police in place, the new governor Mr. Henry S. Freeman who arrived in Lagos on

February 22, 1862 to take up responsibility as the first Governor of the Colony of Lagos

established four different courts—a police court, a commercial court, a criminal court, and a

slave court240. The relevance of this judicial set-up was fourfold. The first was the

prominence given to British commercial interests in the new system of courts. Second was

the total absence of Nigerians in a facet of judicial administration that had their interest as a

prime target. Third was the inextricable implication of the colonial government in private

British commercial concerns. Fourth was the obviously ominous future and inevitable public

perception of the colonial police who were employed by all these courts to maintain social

control.

Onyeozili argued that this early employment of police resources to advance the colonial

political agenda in fact shaped the future of policing as an agency of oppression in the whole

history of Nigeria241. Many other historians and criminologists—for example, Alemika

(1988), Ahire (1991), Ikime (1977), Crowder (1978a), Tamuno (1970), share the opinion that

the preoccupations of the police during the colonial era were tied solely to British ambitions

in Nigeria. Their view, according to Alemika242, has been that the colonial state ultimately

rests on force and violence, and the capacity to realize its ambition in spite of opposition

from the colonized peoples. In his words:

The colonial objectives were (to varying degrees during the phases of

colonialism in Nigeria) prosecuted through organized governmental violence,

vandalism and plunder on the part of the colonizers. . . . The sundry

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 administrative, coercive and surveillance organs (police, prisons, courts,

tribunals, “native” authorities, Residents and District Officers) were

established to prosecute, promote, and defend British imperialistic interests

in Nigeria243.

Worthy of note is the fact that imperial policing orientations and preoccupations have been

maintained and strengthened by postcolonial governments in Nigeria. Alemika explains that

despite formal independence, the political and economic conditions of exploitation,

oppression, and gross power and economic injustices that gave rise to colonial policing

policies have not been discarded. In other words, the nationalists against who police terror

and violence were used by the colonialists, and to whom power was subsequently

transferred at independence, cushioned them into employing police brutality and terror

against their opponents in post-independence political power struggles244.

As stated earlier, no sooner was the police force established and the rudiments of a judicial

bureaucracy set in motion than the “Armed Hausa Police” were employed in a series of

colonial government atrocities. In April 1865 for example, 118 constables along with 18

marines from HMS Investigator and HMS Handy attacked the Egba force that besieged

Ikorodu, which the British considered a “friendly town.” In August 1865, 62 constables were

used to attack Edinmo village for disturbing the peace of the neighborhood245.

From the late 1860s, under Glover’s administration (Freeman’s successor), some

communities were allowed to choose one or two constables as “country police” or District

Police. Their duties were to patrol the outlying areas. By 1895, and owing to the completion

of the “pacification” of Lagos, Police Ordinance No. 10 of 1895, dated 27 December, was

passed establishing a civil police force called “The Lagos Police” as a body distinct from the

69
constabulary. In 1901 the constabulary was absorbed into the West African Frontier Force

(WAFF), thereby leaving the Lagos Police (civil police) as the sole police force in Lagos246.

The new civil police comprised of a Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners, one

Superintendent, one Assistant Superintendent, one Pay-and Quartermaster, one Sergeant-

Major, eight Sergeants, eight Corporals, 50 first-class “privates” and one master tailor247.

It is the view of this writer that we might regard December 1895 as the year for the

“civilianization” of the Nigerian Police, as well as a base for the professionalization of the

force. Not only was the military constabulary replaced, but Governor Denton also replaced

the “Hausa boys” with indigenous Yoruba recruits. In his speech before this radical

departure, Denton observed that:

In our Hausa Force we have a body of men dissociated from the countries

immediately around Lagos both by birth and religion, and who are as a

matter of fact the hereditary enemies of the Yorubas. This is such an

enormous advantage in any interior complication that I should be sorry to see

it abandoned if it be possible to obtain a supply of recruits in any other

way248.

In spite of their shortcomings, the new civil police had goals and clearly delineated duties. By a

further Police Ordinance (No. 14 of 1897), the Lagos police force was to become “an armed force.”

Its general duties included “the prevention and detection of crime, the repression of internal

disturbance, and the defense of the Colony and protection against external aggression.” The

ordinance further increased the force strength to include an armorer, and replaced the title of

“private” with “constable”249. Although this change was mainly bureaucratic, as most Yoruba-

speaking members of the constabulary were absorbed into the new “all indigenous” force, its

70
principle was a milestone in the development of the police in Nigeria. It was also obvious that the

military complexion of the constabulary was present in the new force.

Alemika has charged that the traditions of civility, efficiency, and submission to the rule of

law that constituted the bedrock of the British police system were not emphasized in the

establishment or running of colonial police forces in Nigeria. On the contrary, he argues that

law-and-order maintenance and riot suppression functions of the police were emphasized

to the exclusion of social services250. In the Lagos Police, the qualifications for the officer

cadre, like those of the Assistant Commissioner of Police until 1897, were “a sound

knowledge of drill” in addition to a “clear practical knowledge of criminal law as well as a

sober judgment and great personal energy”251.

Except for a few officers attached to the force, and who had previous professional police

experience in criminal investigation, past service in the military seemed to be the main

criterion. Only a few of the forces developed sufficiently to carry out the primary task of

preventing, detecting and prosecuting crime. This is understandable, given the nature of

recruitment into the provincial forces, which required no specific educational standard. The

only requirement was physical fitness, and recruitment was largely based on the Oba or

chiefs’ patronage. Before 1959, the only form of training was drilling by the most senior

non-commissioned officer in the unit, an illiterate whose instructions were limited to

marching orders252. Occasionally, Assistant District Officer in charge of the police force gave

lectures on the duties of a policeman, how to keep station records, make arrests, and

handle criminals.

In May 1906, the two police forces of the Colony of Lagos and the Southern Nigeria

Protectorate were amalgamated and designated the Southern Nigeria Police Force with Mr.

C.E. Johnstone as the Inspector General. It was not until 1930 that the two forces of the

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amalgamated South and North (1914) were merged under the Inspector General Mr. Claude

W. Duncan. This merger, however, marked an important step in the evolution of national

police in Nigeria, and thus becomes relevant in the search for nationhood in a developing

colonial state253. The force, now known as the Nigeria Police Force became a focus of

increasing public attention as measures for decolonization hit center-stage during the

constitutional conferences.

Generally, the police forces established during this period performed a principal duty

namely, the management of colonial disorder (the raison d’être for the establishment of

modern police in Africa)254. To make Africans (albeit Nigerians), amenable to colonial

exploitation and administration, the old social order, as already noted, was displaced while

new social systems were introduced255.

Policies were formulated to legalize the integration of the continent into the expanding

global capitalism. To manage the new “colonial order”, the administration adopted

authoritarian method of suppression and repression. In Nigeria, series of armed military

campaigns were waged between 1860 -1914 as a result of the implacable political divide

between the colonial interests and those of the people. Popular aspiration of the people for

freedom from oppression and economic exploitation was brutally suppressed256.

Beginning from the original participation in the conquest, the police played a leading role in

the consolidation of the colonial state and repression of the colonized257. The central focus

of the police establishment was the protection of the political and economic interests of the

colonial state rather than the contradictions among the people. In other words, in “keeping

the order” and “maintaining the law”, which were forcefully imposed and sanctioned by the

new imperial authority, the new police force played a principal role in buttressing the new

administration’s policy under British authority258.

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To effectively perform such duties, the colonial police institutions had a distinct semi-

military character as they were trained in the use of firearms. For example, the Armed

Hausa Police were more like soldiers than police, and apart from their semi-military duties

in the districts adjoining Lagos Colony, they were useful adjunct to the imperial troops

needed for active service in the Gold Coast between 1872 and 1874259.

The justification for this policy was fourfold. First, semi-military police helped to reduce the

cost of separate establishments in the respective territories by making it possible for one

man to do the work of two. Second is the absence of readily available alternative sources of

armed assistance to cope with emergencies. The third and most crucial factor lay in the

nature of the people’s reaction to imperial jurisdiction and rule. Lastly, employing soldiers

for civil duties would have exposed the inherent military despotism in British rule 260.

In Nigeria, British efforts to establish effective control over the claimed protectorates

intensified the opposition of several chiefs and their people who fought for their economic,

socio-political and religious rights against the demands of the European traders and

Christian missionaries. Against this backdrop, there was the need for deployment of troops

and police as ready instruments of enforcing government orders when peaceful overtures

failed. Hence, by adept political maneuvering, the government established and developed

several police forces whose members not only received training in the use of firearms but

also carried out the duties normally performed by soldiers261.

3.5. British Justice System, Legal Code and Punishment Methods

Colonial Nigerian society had a well-defined structure and organization as well as a central

dynamic, which shaped social life in a specific way, and had a link with politics and

economics262. As a result of the politics and economics during this era, the institutions of

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law, politics, morality, philosophy, and religion were forcibly adapted to fit the conditions of

economic life and were able to take on forms and values which were in keeping with the

dominant mode of production263.

The criminal code of law during this era, which emphasized treason and treachery (political

crimes) as the most serious crimes, gave expression to a specific form of fear and economic

relationships which were necessary to maintain for survival and well-being. Historically, the

British form of law introduced into Nigeria on March 4, 1863 designed to safeguard the well-

being and survival of the British socially, politically, and economically264. In the courtroom,

Nigerian defendants were seen as legal subjects, bearing all the attributes of free will,

responsibility, and hedonistic psychology, which the British deemed applicable no matter

how far the actualities of the case departed from this ideal.

The personalities and actions of Nigerian defendants were viewed by the British through the

prism of this ideological form of the British overlords which was automatically effective so

that the destitute and desperate victims were not in control of their own destinies once

they appeared in a court of law265.

As a product of law, punishment protected the property and the government of the British

ruling classes in Nigeria, as well as the social and moral structures which supported them

and were directed against Nigerians, who lost their position through colonialization. Garland

maintains that “the criminal court is not only an embodiment of the abstract legal form; it is

also a weapon in the immediate class struggle”266. The tendency to develop sentencing

tariffs, which calibrate punishments in arithmetical terms, is, in effect, the exchange

principle in the penal sphere, and the modern use of monetary fines fits perfectly within this

bourgeois structure.

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Consequently, punishment during colonial rule in Nigeria was seen as social action, deeply

affected by legal forms and procedures; it never served as crime control, social defense, or

rehabilitation. Determinate sentences practiced by the British colonialists widened the nets

into which the offenders were put, merely for the British economic interest.

Exploitation, instead of the much-needed development and rehabilitation of offenders was

the order of the day. Supreme clemency, such as pardon, commutation, and reprieve was

applicable only to British residents in Nigeria. This is a good example of the power of

determinism of the British ruling classes in Nigeria.

During the British rule in Nigeria (1861–1960), two types of criminal law were enforced—the

indigenous and the English law. The basis for legal punishments emanated from these laws.

However, the duality of legal systems generated by colonial rule was bound to introduce

some measures of limitation in criminal sanctions267.

The British recognized the existence of local criminal laws in Nigeria and implemented a

policy of allowing them to be applied through the medium of the traditional courts. At the

same time, they introduced successively the common law of crimes and then a criminal

code into northern Nigeria and finally into southern Nigeria, together with a colonial

magistracy and judiciary to apply them268.

The British administrators in Nigeria made it clear to the local rulers that their customary

penal structures would be brought under close scrutiny. As a result, some customary

penalties such as mutilation and torture were specifically abolished by statute. Soon, the

colonialists made trials by ordeal and their built-in penalties illegal, and slavery as a penalty

was abolished by 1830s through treaties and ordinances269

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 CHAPTER 4

4:1. African Crime Detection Methods and Control

Prior to the advent of colonialism, indigenous people had their system for the detection and

control of crimes in a broad drive of social control270. Principally, the indigenous system is

entrenched in beliefs, norms and values designed and adopted by the people for

themselves, as a result of which the level of respect and compliance is relatively high271. This

can be adduced to several factors.

One, law-breakers and their families were prone to shaming or other forms of social

chastising in comparatively close-knitted societies. Second and perhaps more compelling,

was that crime control among indigenous people, to a very large extent, involved the

intervention of supernatural agencies272. In the prevention, detection and other aspects of

crime control, reference is made to supernatural forces for intervention through oath-taking

processes and objects of fetishism, charms, magic and some other measures273. The

supernatural dimension facilitated a socio-legal atmosphere in which the potent elements

of mysticism and debilitating fear of terrifying deities helped to keep crimes at relatively

manageable levels274.

Colonialism brought about the incursion of foreign norms, values and laws of the colonizing

masters. Inherently primed to supplant the ways of the natives275, the colonial new order

affected and brought about the relegation and suppression of indigenous practices,

including those relating to crime control.

The suppression took different forms in a purported drive to ‘reform’ the ‘heathen natives’;

Western education, religious ministrations and public policies portrayed indigenous African

practices as barbaric and abhorrent276. More directly, the colonial masters summarily

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outlawed some indigenous social control practices or subjected their validity and

sustainability to passing some tests. In substitution, Western-styled law social control

mechanisms, regarded as scientific, modern and acceptable, were deployed to replace the

supposedly archaic and objectionable indigenous structures277.

Generally, indigenous African criminology evolved from societal traditions, customs, or

native laws, and historical circumstances278. Indigenous African criminology entailed an

interworking or collaboration of physical and supernatural realms, with a predomination of

the supernatural279. Though it may be difficult to delineate the boundaries of the physical

from the supernatural in traditional criminology, an attempt would be made to discuss the

typical approaches or methodologies from the physical and supernatural perspectives.

In the physical realm, community members, individually and collectively, play roles in law

enforcement and crime control activities. Community institutions, groups, and members, at

family or personal levels are involved. The activities are coordinated and overseen at

structural levels of government such as the Family, the Extended Family as well as the whole

community280. At each governmental and administration level, there are provisions for

security maintenance, crime prevention, and general law enforcement by the entire

community acting together or as is more often the case, through their elected or appointed

representatives as well as by specialized agencies, such as the hunters and the Age-grade

groups281. The local professional hunters played a prominent role in crime control and

security maintenance. Relying principally on Dane guns manufactured by the local

blacksmiths, the hunters kept watch over the vulnerable parts of the communities,

especially at night. Where necessary, the hunters’ security activities were complemented by

vigilante activities involving other members of the community that might not be

professional hunters282. The hunters and vigilantes customarily used juju medicine as

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supportive devices as well as charms for individual protection or confidence boosting during

security activities283.

The involvement of the supernatural in indigenous crime detection and control takes

different forms. Whatever form of involvement or deployment, the essence was to ensure

supernatural protection and security for persons and properties, individually and

collectively, through reference to some protecting or adjudicatory deities or juju.

Supernatural involvement in crime control can be in the form of prevention, detection,

resolution, sanctions or any other aspect. Generally, reference to the supernatural is

predicated upon the belief that anyone who defies the adopted medium of supernatural

engagement would incur the wrath of the overseeing deity or juju, and face dire other

consequences. Some approaches among the indigenous peoples are discussed below as

illustrations of the diverse modes or components of supernatural involvement in traditional

criminology.

One popular indigenous crime detection and control method among the people is aale. This

consists of semiotic tags, charms and other objects used for the protection of properties in

households, marketplaces, farms and so on to prevent or deter unauthorized use, entry or

taking284. The potency of aale is not in the symbolic object used, which can be disused

footwear, piece of rag, palm fronds, totems and so on. In design and operation, embedded

in aale is a curse programmed to harm any person who defies the aale to tamper with the

property which the aale protects. The curse, if activated by defiance in tampering with the

property, would instigate protecting supernatural forces to inflict severe sanction on the

culprit. Therefore, underpinning aale is an expected deterrence of criminal conducts vis-à-

vis fear of the supernatural forces to which the property has been entrusted via the aale.

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Somewhat related to the practice of placing aale on properties, is the practice of placing

households under the protection of some awe-inspiring deities for the security of lives and

properties. Customarily, each household is placed under the protection of different deities.

Totems of the protecting deities are often placed in conspicuous places to symbolise and

publicise their presence285. One of such deities popularly deployed for protection is Esu.

Though commonly perceived as the biblical devil or Satan, Esu is actually regarded by the

Yoruba as ‘a divinity of mischief who can make things difficult for mankind’ 286. In another

respect, Esu is also regarded as ‘a beneficent divinity who is prepared to answer the call of

his devotees who give his due’287. The presence of Esu as overseer and protector of a

household is normally symbolised by a laterite statue in a human form placed in a slanting

position just outside the compound of the household involved288.

The traditional logic behind using deities as supernatural guards over households is that the

fear of incurring the wrath of an implacable god would discourage people from harmful acts,

such as stealing from or inordinate attacks on the household. Among the indigenous people,

the fear of the deities is potent and real. For example, it is widely appreciated that Esu is

difficult to placate when provoked, and is so powerful that even his fellow deities are afraid

of him. Hence, ‘he is held in constant dread, and people at all times seek to be on the right

side of him’289. In underscoring the intimidating ferocity of Esu as a protecting deity, the

Yoruba believe that once a family or a household has been placed under its protection; Esu

‘kills in his typical manner (all) those who injure the buildings or who trespass there with evil

intentions’290.

Beyond the paranormal prevention of crimes, indigenous crime detection and control

method also entails supernatural intervention into processes of detection, apprehension

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and sanctioning of culprits, or simply the resolution of crimes in some other ways. A number

or all of these processes can be aggregated into one event or instance of intervention.

One very common mechanism of propelling these processes is oath-taking.

Generally, oath-taking is a widely accepted and practiced measure of resolution of disputes

among the indigenous people. Used very frequently in crime detection, oath-taking is an

integral part of the African custom by which the guilty and the innocent involved in dispute

resolution and determination291. The resort to the supernatural process of oath-taking is

typically made when human efforts to resolve the crime fail or there is a lack of confidence

in the human organ in charge. As a direct submission to the supernatural entity, oath-taking

entails swearing to a deity or juju (that is a supernatural object) for the resolution of a

criminal issue or settlement of other contentious matters. The oaths are worded

(incantations) in such a way that the person swearing invokes a conditional curse on his or

herself, invoking the deity or juju to punish them if they lie. Guilt or innocence is established

upon the basis of whether the accused dies or not, or if the accused falls ill, encounters

some grave misfortune or suffers any other expected consequence as a result of the oath-

taking exercise. In some cases, the family of such a person and the whole community may

vicariously suffer dire consequences too, depending on the stand of the deity or juju sworn

to292.

Among the indigenous people, two deities often engaged with crime-resolution oath-taking

are Ayelala and Sango. Ayelala, is a goddess worshipped in Yoruba land. Her central

functions include dispensation of retributory justice and punishing of evil doers 293. In this

light, Ayelala is ‘always thought of as an anti wickedness goddess and a guardian of social

morality… [and also] known and referred to as the Queen of Justice and ready reckoner who

passes judgment when the evil-doer has forgotten’294. Where suspects to a crime are

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brought before the court of Ayelala to swear to the deity, there are two possible scenarios.

One, a culprit, rather than undergoing the swearing process or ‘daring’ Ayelala may confess

to his guilt and receive appropriate sanctions.

Alternatively, the culprit, refusing to admit guilt, may opt to swear falsely. Ayelala ’s wrath

and punishment on culprits who are guilty but swear falsely manifest in form of swollen

limbs and abdomens with terrible agony. Ultimately, this could result in painful death if they

still refuse to confess to the unlawful acts295. The effect of the dire punishment of Ayelala

extends beyond the life of an ‘executed’ culprit as her victim. Such person cannot be

mourned. ‘Rather than weeping, the people congratulate the relatives of the victims on the

removal of the evil-doers from the society’296.

Similarly, regarding a crime referred to Ayelala for supernatural intervention, suspects can

also be made to swear to their innocence before Sango. This is the Yoruba god of thunder

and lightning, who among others, especially forbids lying, stealing and poisoning.

Sango represents the ‘divine wrath upon the children of disobedience’ 297 and is highly

dreaded for its thunderous and fiery ferocity.

Sango characteristically sanctions guilty people who swear falsely before it by striking them

to death in a blaze of lightning and roaring of thunder. Reportedly, also in case of stealing,

Sango would also place, for public display, the stolen items on the bodies of the identified

and sanctioned culprits. As a form of posthumous sanctions, a person struck down by Sango

does not receive normal burial; he can only be buried by Sango priests following the

performance of necessary rituals at the spot he or she was struck down. Such a person must

also not be mourned based upon the belief that the victim has got his due punishment for

his evil deeds as Sango does not descend to strike, except to express his displeasure for

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unwholesome conducts298. The abhorrence of criminal acts and its other attributes make

Sango a terrifying icon in the supernatural framework of the indigenous people.

Basically, as an indigenous detective or crime control mechanism, oath-taking, is typically

undertaken where there are identified suspected culprits that are or can be made to swear

an oath to determine their innocence or guilt. However, in some cases, the situation of a

crime may be such that perpetrators are unknown, at large and cannot therefore be put

through the process of oath-taking. In such a situation, an indigenous criminological practice

for detection or other aspects of resolving such crimes is to simply ‘send’ an avenging deity

or juju after the perpetrators.

The belief is that the perpetrators, wherever they may be, would be magically located,

identified and punished appropriately for the crime committed. Among the indigenous

Yoruba, Ayelala, Ogun and Sango, two deities whose enormous criminological powers have

been considered above, are more likely to be ‘sent’ to, or after an unknown or eloping

culprit. Once located, the deities would deal with the culprit in their respective

characteristic manner of punishing offenders as earlier described299.

Apart from involving the gods in the apprehending and sanctioning of culprits, there are

some other means of preventing crimes or apprehending criminals. A widely known practice

among the indigenous Yoruba is in the form of placing charmed items, usually brooms, at

the thresholds of households as means of supernatural security. The belief is that anyone

who comes to steal in such secured households would be enchanted by the item juju, and

would not be able to steal anything. Rather, the criminal-minded person would be

supernaturally trapped, sweeping, until his arrest by the householders300.

Another similar mechanism is the practice of placing charms with powers to trap,

disorientate, drive away or even fatally harm intruders, depending on the coding of the

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operative charms. In one form, an intruder may simply be hypnotized and left stuck or

roaming around the household until he is subsequently apprehended.

In another form, if intruders come in a group, based on the working of the charms, while

stuck in the scene of crime, discordance would inexplicably arise among them, and they

would start and keep quarrelling until they are apprehended. In some cases too, the charms

placed in a household may supernaturally unleash bees, wasps or some other dangerous

elements on intruders either to drive them away or to inflict fatal injuries on them 301.

In some cases, suspects based on suspicion or apprehension through any of the means may

be put through a trial process whereby the suspect is made to go through some measures to

test his innocence. In this aspect, it is not that the suspect is made to swear to a deity or juju

to prove his innocence. Rather, the suspect is taken put through a criminal trial by a

challenge; proof of his innocence or guilt lies in whether he prevails over or succumbs to the

challenge. The popular form of this indigenous criminal trial process is the much vilified trial

by ordeal, which has been described as ‘one of the greatest safeguards of justice’ among the

people302.

Simply put, trial by ordeal is a judicial or trial process whereby guilt or innocence of an

accused person is determined by subjecting him to painful, unpleasant and dangerous

experiences. According to The Black’s Law Dictionary, trial by ordeal is, ‘[a] primitive form of

trial in which an accused was subjected to a dangerous or painful physical test, the result

being considered a divine revelation of the person’s guilt or innocence. The participants

believed that God would reveal a person’s culpability by protecting an innocent person from

the torture….’303.

The ordeals which an accused can be put through are diverse, depending on the morbid

creativity of the people engaged in the implementation of the process. In pre-colonial Oyo,

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ordeals which suspects could be put through have included taking poisonous substances,

immersion in water, dipping in boiling oil or exposure to the attacks of crocodiles or other

wild animals304. Furthermore, according to a commentator: the ordeal might take the form

of the juice of a tree (e.g. sass wood) mixed with water, or a burnt powder made from it and

dissolved in water; a knife or other piece of iron might be heated in a fire; the culprit might

be taken to a nearby pond or stream. The guilty one is he who should drink the water and

become sick, handle the red hot knife and get burnt, or sink when immersed in water 305.

Premised on a subjective principle of ‘the truth shall set you free’; the process of trial by

ordeal is underpinned by a belief that through some supernatural intervention, preservation

or insulation, a person innocent of an alleged crime shall pass through the ordeal unharmed.

Hence, only innocent people would confidently opt to endure a trial while guilty ones are

likely to confess to their guilt. Trial by ordeal can be a matter of life or death, proof of

innocence being survival or escape from death or grievous injuries, and death or injuries

being an indication of guilt.

4:2. British Crime Detection Methods and Control

African countries came under the colonial control of various European powers, with Nigeria

falling under the control of Britain. The colonial relationship between Nigeria and England

engendered the introduction of English law into Nigeria306. This took different modes; in one

vein, Nigeria as a component of the British Empire was subject to laws generally applicable

to all parts of the Empire. More specifically, English Law in its different genres was formally

introduced and made applicable in Nigeria with the commencement of Ordinance 3 of 14th

March 1863307.

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Colonial rule in Nigeria and other African countries had a general impact of radical alteration

of traditional or indigenous legal systems, which manifested in ways that include the

following:

(a) Transplantation and imposition of laws and norms made for foreign societies with

different ways of life and values.

(b) Making of laws for the African societies by foreign colonial masters who were mainly

influenced by their own ways of life while they regarded the African ways of life as primitive

and unwholesome.

(c) The subjugation of customary law and traditional values to the laws made under

circumstances (a) or (b) above.

(d) Fundamental alteration and illegalization of traditional principles and values formulated

and operated for many generations and to which members of the societies have been

accustomed.

In the context of Nigeria, the sources of law applicable enlarged from mere customary law,
as made and generally accepted by the indigenous people, to the following:

(a) Received English Law

(b) Legislation

(c) Judicial Precedent

(d) Customary Law308.

It bears noting that customary law as applicable from the colonial era was devoid of the

strong unfettered legal potency it enjoyed in the pre-colonial traditional setting. It became

subjected to the overriding provisions of the three other sources of Nigerian law. In the first

instance, the existence of customary law was relegated to issue of facts to be proved before

the English-style court before it can be considered for application in any legal dispute.

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Except in the exceptional situations where a court has taken judicial notice309 of a customary

law due to previous applications, any person relying on such law must establish or prove its

existence as facts in issue by means of cogent evidence. The person proves his or her case

by the direct evidence of witnesses knowledgeable in the area of the customary law in

question or by some other means such as books310. The basis for this procedure is that the

judge is regarded as not being aware of the customary laws, even if he comes from the area

where the customary law in question applies. However, unlike customary law, there is no

need to prove any of the other three English law-based sources of Nigerian law in court as

the judge is summarily deemed to have knowledge and awareness of them.

Secondly, after proving the existence of any customary law by evidence, such law would be

further subjected to legal tests of validity before it can be deemed valid and applicable 311.

The tests of validity are:

(i) Repugnancy Test

(ii) Incompatibility Test

(iii) Public Policy Test312.

The repugnancy test connotes that any customary law ‘repugnant to natural justice, equity

and good conscience’ would be held invalid and unenforceable as law313. The incompatibility

test connotes that any customary law that is ‘incompatible with any law for the time being

in force’ would be invalid and unenforceable as law. In operation, the effect of this test is

that any customary law that conflicts or incompatible, directly or indirectly, with any of the

other three sources would be invalid and unenforceable314. The public policy test connotes

that any customary law that is ‘contrary to public policy’ would be invalid and unenforceable

as law. Public policy is flexible and has been described as ‘an unruly horse which once one

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gets astride it no one knows where it would end’315. In this respect, ‘public policy’ has such a

dynamic latitude that, based on the inclination of the government at a particular time; it can

be invoked or adapted to strike down a customary law that is not caught within the web of

the other two tests of validity. A key point of note in the validity tests is that the procedure

being the legal creation of the colonial masters, naturally was influenced by values of the

colonial rulers who were alien to indigenous African societies316.

In the web of the legal restrictions on customary law, customary criminal justice system and

some criminological mechanisms as previously operating in traditional settings became

virtually illegitimate. Only crimes set out or written in legislative enactments constituted

crimes for which someone can be tried and sanctioned. Hence, customary law crimes, which

characteristically are unwritten would be null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever 317.

Furthermore, some colonial legislative provisions emerged to suppress some components of

indigenous criminology in the scope of the incompatibility test. For example, with regard to

the earlier discussed practice of trial by ordeal, section 207 (1) of the Criminal Code318

provides that:

The trial by the ordeal of sasswood, esere-bean, or other poison, boiling of oil, fire,

immersion in water or exposure to the attacks of crocodiles, or other wild animals, or by any

ordeal which is likely to result in the death of or bodily injury to any party to the proceeding

is unlawful…

In a related manner, section 208 of the Code further provides that:

Any person who directs or controls or presides at any trial by ordeal which is unlawful is

guilty of felony and is liable, when the trial at which such person directs, controls or presides

at results in the death of any party to the proceeding, to the punishment of death, and in

every other case to imprisonment for ten years.

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Similarly, concerning the securing properties with charms, paranormal forces and so on,

section 210 of the Criminal Code provides that…Any person who…

(c) makes or sells or uses, or assists or takes part in making or selling or using, or has in his

possession or represents himself to be in possession of any juju, drug or charm…which is

alleged or reported to possess the power of causing any natural phenomenon or any disease

or epidemic; or

(d) directs or controls or presides at or is present at or takes part in the worship or

invocation of any juju which is prohibited by an order of the Minister;… is guilty of a

misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years.

In effect, the legal system introduced through colonial rule suppressed indigenous criminal

law system which the indigenous people were used to and replaced it with alien and

incongruous European models of crime control in its different dimensions319.

Centralised and bureaucratised in nature, the introduced systems had some features.

Responsibility for crime control was placed with a formally organised state police who, as

components of this central duty, undertake the investigation of crimes, apprehending of law

breakers and related activities. Furthermore, imprisonment became a predominant form of

criminal sanction. Generally, the complex rules and prescriptions connected with the

introduced criminal-justice system inevitably informed the need for lawyers, judicial officers

and other professionals to oversee and operate the processes in line with the

technicalities320.

The broad effect of the tests of validity and other interventions in the application of

customary law and practices was that customary law, which was supreme in pre- colonial

traditional settings, became subordinated to foreign oriented laws. Reflecting on the depth

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of the subordination, a writer has described the existence of customary law, vis-à-vis its

operation in relation to the other sources of law, as a ‘legal make-belief’321.

4:3. Effectiveness of African and British crime detection methods and control

The use of criminal law, vis-à-vis sanctions as a means of social control, has been predicated

on four rationales or expectations. These are incapacitation, rehabilitation, deterrence and

retribution322. The effectiveness of a criminal law system can thus be measured on how well

it succeeds in meeting these expectations in its crime control drive.

The essence of incapacitation is to protect people from deviant conducts by putting away

the offender, rendering him unable to cause further harm in the society. Incapacitation can

be partial, as in confinement, or total, as in execution of criminals convicted for heinous

crimes. Temporary incapacitation under the indigenous criminal law system can be in form

of banishment or affliction with illness by the gods; total incapacitation can be in form

where an offender is struck dead by the gods as punishment.

With regard to rehabilitation, the aim is that sanctions would reform the offender. Once

properly adjusted and compliant with existing norms, the offender would desist from

deviant conducts. This aspect is a prominent component of indigenous criminal

jurisprudence. Hazardous punishment is typically a last resort in the pre-colonial Oyo. At

different stages, for example, at the point of oath-taking, an offender has an option to admit

his guilt and make restitution to the victim or take some other steps to atone for his

misconducts. Generally, pursuit of restoration of societal amity and reconciliation is an

inherent and important aspect of indigenous practices323. Among other things, this serves

the purpose of reforming the culprit who has stepped out of social order. Depending on the

context of usage, ‘retribution’ can connote different concepts such as revenge,

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denunciation, atonement, or ‘just desserts’ – that is, the law-breaker gets what he justly

deserves. In pre-colonial times, sanctions as retribution were not primarily for the purpose

of vengeance. Essentially, retribution represents the society’s collective denunciation or

expression of disapproval for the deviant conduct of the offender.

In another aspect, it translates to the offender’s atonement for his misconducts against the

victim and the society as a whole. Retribution also forms a basis for the restoration of

societal cordiality. It is in this respect that retribution in the traditional context, at times,

would entail the offender, directly or through offender’s family, making propitiation to

appease deities of the land who have been displeased by the offender’s conduct324.

Deterrence has different perspectives. First, there is the aspect of a standing threat, and the

related fear, of supernatural sanctions discouraging people from criminal acts. Where an

offender has been actually sanctioned this may serve as deterrence at individual and

general levels. Individual offenders would be deterred from future misconducts by their

unpleasant experience of sanctions, while others, expectedly, would learn from the

situation of the sanctioned offender325.

Finally, the threat of punishment stands as a form of education and a strong expression of

society’s disapproval of an act, with the effect of a sanction. The scenario propels and

reinforces the public moral code, creating conscious and unconscious inhibitions against

committing crime. Punishment, in form of wraths of the gods or juju, evidently stands as a

strong deterrence factor against crime among the indigenous people. With manifest

appreciation of the extent of their powers, anger and severity of harm they can inflict, the

people reasonably have a strong point to refrain from confronting the gods through criminal

acts. A saying among the indigenous people relating to Sango, the god of thunder, one of

the sanctioning deities earlier discussed, tends to illustrate the capacity of gods to deter

90
deviant acts. The saying goes thus: ‘eni Sango ti oju e w’ole, ko ni ba won bu oba koso’ (‘He

who has seen Sango [the god of thunder] striking, would never join in insulting or

confronting the King of Koso’)326.

Apparently, indigenous crime control mechanisms have functioned effectively in the scope

of the four rationales or expectations of criminal law discussed above. Studies have shown

that, on the whole, the indigenous systems have contributed to the effective control of

crime in the pre-colonial African societies327. In the pre-colonial era, the strategy adopted

against insecurity or threats to life, and property was more preventive than combative 328.

Comparatively, the level of effectiveness of indigenous criminology as described above can

hardly be attributed to the English criminal law system imposed on Nigeria through colonial

rule. So much has been written about the inadequacies and ineffectiveness of the foreign

criminal law system in stemming the tide of criminal conducts in Oyo and Nigeria as a

whole329.

It bears noting that the reformative and deterrent impacts of criminal sanctions in

preventing crime under the system have particularly been questionable for long. Along this

line, it has been observed by a source that,…if the wrongdoer calculates at all, it is not upon

the probable account of the punishment, but upon the chances of detection – from which it

follows that…severe and barbarous punishments are not more effectual than milder ones as

deterrents to crime330. (Ashworth 1997)

The alarming level of violent and other heinous crimes in Oyo and Nigeria as whole and

other parts of the world, where the foreign system operates, offers an attestation to the

limitations of the system. From all indications, there is no longer the fear of criminal

sanctions or much reverence for the prescribed social norms and rules.

91
The relative success and effectiveness of the indigenous criminal law system in the

prevention and control of crimes in the pre-colonial can be attributed to some factors.

Unlike the modern system, which seeks to adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach over a cross

section of culturally and historically diverse peoples; crime control mechanisms in pre-

colonial Oyo varied. The indigenous strategies of crime control in pre-colonial Oyo grew out

of society’s traditions, customs, native laws, society’s historical circumstances and desires.

4:4. Enforcers of African and British crime detection methods and control

In the pre-colonial Oyo, community members, individually and collectively, played roles in

each society’s law enforcement efforts. This is unlike in the modern system where these

tasks are consigned to centrally controlled police and other law enforcement agencies,

which largely do not enjoy the trust and confidence of the people. Being home-grown,

community members generally accepted and respected the community’s methods and

procedures for security maintenance and crime control. Members of each community knew

the people engaged in the community’s security, and crime control machinery, vis-a-vis

moral and other credentials. Hence, persons of questionable character were not likely to be

entrusted with security or crime control tasks. This is unlike the British system where

security and crime control activities are vested in a relatively detached police force that

perennially face questions of incompetence, corruption and other vices.

Furthermore, the intervention of supernatural forces in the dispensation of harsh

punishment to wrongdoers serves to instil raw fear in people, offering a strong deterrent

force. The level of confidence and beliefs in the capabilities of relatively incorruptible

avenging gods, from whom there is virtually no escape, is so high that it is sufficient to

dissuade many from wrong doing. In the case of the modern system, the element of fear has

92
been watered down due to different factors. Unscrupulous lawyers, corrupt judicial officers

and law enforcement agents and so on tend to offer an avenue of escape for offenders, with

a widespread belief that justice is for the highest bidder 331. Besides, the technologically

advanced gadgets deployed to crime control, even record failures, due to various

limitations.

4:5. The Pros and Cons of African and British Crime Detection Methods and Control

The prevalence and confidence in indigenous social control mechanisms until the present

time is well established. For example, in Nigeria, the indigenous criminological practice of

oath-taking remains a popular process of ensuring fidelity or exacting truth. Oath-taking has

always been an acceptable practice and a common feature of dispute resolution and crime

detection among indigenous people. The people’s strong belief that it is one of the assured

ways of obtaining untainted justice has enabled this practice to survive and remain

appealing as a legitimate social control process332. Along similar lines as oath-taking, there

are indications that indigenous criminal law practice of trial by ordeal still finds acceptance

among the people. In one dimension, it signifies the high level of confidence reposed in a

long existing indigenous social control apparatus.

On the other side, it reflects the lack or low level of confidence in the Western-style

conventional mechanism imposed by the colonial masters and sustained by post-colonial

governments. One is the dissatisfaction and disenchantment with the foreign English

criminal-justice system because of its perceived ineffectiveness and inefficiency in crime

control and other aspects333. Secondly, due to the unceasing increase in the incidence of

crimes coupled with the brazen impunities of criminals, as well as criminals escaping

93
sanctions, many tend to view that the foreign English system is ineffective and inefficient for

social control in the country.

Also, due to fundamental socio-cultural differences, the English-based system of social

control in Nigeria lacks the cultural relativity that it enjoys in England, its place of origin.

Many Africans, over generations, have simply abided in the traditional ways of operating,

disconnected from the foreign system, the ineffectiveness of the foreign system in different

areas.

Another advantage of the indigenous justice system is the comparatively inexpensive,

prompt and relatively uncomplicated nature of the system. By and large, the indigenous

justice system appears to guarantee quicker, less expensive, and culturally relevant justice

and social order. The Western style criminal-justice system is an adversarial contest

between the government prosecutors and defence lawyers for the accused in which the

victim becomes a mere prosecution witness334. Operating the system entails the operation

of a complex set of rules, procedures and technicalities with the involvement of judicial

officers, and lawyers on opposing sides for prosecuting and defending the accused. It is trite

that the process is cumbersome, expensive, time consuming, and insensitive to the plight of

victims in some circumstances. On the contrary, the traditional justice system, being of a

restorative and reformative nature, constitutes a prompt, uncomplicated process permitting

active involvement and participation by victims, offenders, families and the entire

community in arriving at a resolution acceptable to all concerned. Generally, victims of

crime under the indigenous justice system are given access to mechanisms of justice and to

prompt redress and remedies such as restitution, supported with material and emotional

support, unlike the mechanical and impersonal imposed system where victims feel re-

94
victimized by government agencies of social control335. The situation can be summed up this

way:

Essentially, the foreign system contracts poorly with the African criminal justice system…

The traditional procedure was simple and devoid of any formality. The approach was more

of common sense as opposed to crass legalism or technicality. The indigenous system is

found to be convenient and intelligible, being grounded in familiar concepts and notions.

The people were afforded full participation in this speedy and cheap administration of

justice336.

The different facets and mechanisms of indigenous African criminology have been

considered in previous sections. One factor that runs through and constitutes the bedrock

of the indigenous criminology is the inherent, and virtually inevitable, involvement of the

supernatural. Even in the essentially physical acts of security and law enforcement entailing

patrol, night-watch and related tasks, there is still a reference to the supernatural. The

supernatural outlook emanates from the religious, ritualistic or mystic structures in which

the traditional criminological practices are grounded.

With the pivotal involvement of the supernatural in indigenous African criminology, it has

faced the criticism of being unscientific and concomitant question of acceptability. In a

related vein, due to fundamental socio-cultural and religious differences, the colonial

masters perceived and disapproved of indigenous social control practices as outdated,

barbaric and generally unwholesome. There resulted the suppression of indigenous

criminology. The suppression, as earlier noted, took two main approaches. One, foreign

criminological systems were imposed, set in the broad structure of introduction of the laws

of the colonial masters. Two, there was specific outlawing of indigenous criminological

practices by criminal law statutes.

95
It is true that there can be some cogent grounds to disagree with some aspects of

indigenous criminological practices. Being subjective and unscientific, due to reliance on the

supernatural, there is the possibility of error and irredeemable miscarriage of justice. For

example, there would be a legitimate basis for concern over the way the juju man or priests

or hunters magically and subjectively identify or detect criminals who were then subjected

to summary execution by decapitation and burning. Such manner of dispensing justice may

indeed lend credence to the perception of indigenous criminology as ‘spiritualistic, barbaric,

uncivilized, and criminal’; this would particularly be so, based on the irreversibility of the

sanction where an executed accused is later found innocent. Put simply, the possibility of

mistakes or mischief on the part of supernatural forces or their human agents makes

entrusting crime detection to supernatural forces questionable.

Realistically, the likelihood of miscarriage of justice through reliance on supernatural

mechanisms and subjective procedures cannot be trivialized. Moreover, in the modern

scientific and objective criminal systems operated in the technologically advanced countries

like America, even in the twenty first century, there are still reports of miscarriage of justice

resulting in horrendous suffering, judicial murders or near murders of innocent persons337.

If these modern systems are not summarily deemed unacceptable and discarded

because of instances or possibility of errors of judgment, then the indigenous system should

not be vilified and summarily discarded on the same ground. Whatever misgivings one may

have against the indigenous criminological system, its strength and effectiveness as a social

control measure in the modern times should not be overlooked or underrated.

96
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