By Anote Ajeluorou
In spite of seemingly becoming more modern as some African
societies tend or pretend to be, the more barbaric certain practices also tend
to recur. Killing for ritual, for instance, is one barbaric practice claims to
modernity is yet to stamp out. Sadly, it keeps recurring in cities with
supposedly civilized folks. The media is awash with reports of burst dens of
ritual killers.
The sheer horrors of
such ritual killing and the grim reality of their wider socio-political implication
for society form the subject matter of a new play, The Traffickers written by Owerri-based Dr. Sam Madugba. It was the
2014 Convention play of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Imo State chapter
held recently.
Performed by Akaraka
Theatre Group, Owerri, and directed by Frank Awujo, The Traffickers gives a grim insight into the macabre practice
where human lives are counted next to nothing in the morbid quest for some well
placed individuals to gain wealth and power, with the end result that has
significance for the entire society and those who purport to run its affairs.
This is the crust of
the matter. A community is in the grip of fear, with five women already
murdered, their private parts cut off and still counting. The police appear not
only helpless, but grossly compromised, with one of them Inspector Gwando (Iwuchukwu
Daniel) in active connivance with the powers-that-be to cover up their misdeeds.
As it turns out, Alhaji Oriogwu (Austine Awujo), a political heavyweight and
respected member of society, with many national awards and honours, is one of
the brains behind the ritual killings. He has further political ambition, and
needs these victims to gain ascendancy, as he admits.
But how do you ever
suspect a man of such high standing in society as being responsible for the
dastardly act plaguing it? All the female victims bear the same mark. Their
private parts are usually cut off. They are the sacred items needed to unlock
the doors to wealth and power.
However, in the home
of Nwankwo (Emeka Njoku), one year remembrance of his late wife is being
planned, but with little resources; his friend, Ugwumba (Eric Secondson) is
part of the planning, and donates to the purpose. Nwankwo’s, Nwakeago (Emenaha
Hope), who is supposed to assist Mgbakwo (Patience Nkemjika), the late woman’s
friend, to organise materials for the anniversary, is kidnapped on her way to
the market by a man contracted by Alhaji Oriogwu to supply human items for his
diabolic plot he believes makes him climb the ladder of success both as a
businessman and a politician.
This admission by Alhaji
Oriogwu seems frightening to ordinary watchers of events in the polity. If most
or some highly placed individuals in society go through this evil route to gain
fame and respect in the eyes of society, then there’s need for concern. In
retrospect, with Otokoto saga of some
years back in Owerri, a situation that is daily replicated in many parts of the
country (a dump for mutilated human parts surfaced recently in Ogun and Oyo
states), one is tempted to give Madugba’s The
Traffickers a little more fictive attention, as it just might explain a
malaise plaguing Nigeria’s society.
As the killing and
the anxiety it causes reach a crescendo in the community, the police manage to
come to grips with the situation and get the suspects arrested, thus serving first
justice to the innocent victims of power lust and greed. Then the process of
soul-cleansing ensues, as the reality of murders dawn on the entire community
and its hapless victims. Will the law courts finally serve justice to victims
and their families? What sort of society and individuals emerge from this dark
period of a society preying on itself?
These are some of the
underlying issues raised in Madugba’s The
Traffickers, a play that reaches to the core of society to mine one of its dirt.
However, Akaraka Group’s performance though commendable, leaves out performance
gaps. Although the Theatre Arts Hall of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of
Education is ill-suited for stage production (with its poor acoustics), some of
the cast couldn’t project their voices. Some of the students at the back,
having asked for audibility without the actors improving on it, left the hall.
Alhaji Oriogwu
(Austine Awujo), who passed the audibility test, was virtually shouting his
lines, with his grating, gravely voice. The opening was also in virtual slow
motion; the actors had no sense of timing, and it became a drag on the entire
performance. Inspector Ihuoma (Imprey Amarachi) infused some liveliness in the
play with his serio-comic performance at Alhaji Ariogwu’s office.
Overall, The Traffickers’ performance was
passable, just as the message got across as to the evil resident in some men’s
hearts, men who see their fellow humans as ladder to climb to their haven of
greed.
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