Okija Shrine
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Okija Shrine or Ogwuwu Akpu is a dreaded shrine[1] located in Okija, a town in Ihiala local government of Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria.[2] On 3 August 2004, the shrine was invaded by a team of policemen led by former Anambra State Commissioner of Police Felix Ogbaudu who arrested over 40 native doctors, keepers and attendants.[3] Over 70 dead human bodies and skulls were discovered in the premise of the shrine.[4]
Okija Shrine was a dispute settlement shrine where people with personal, land and business issues go to in order to seek adjudication by the gods.[5] But as Mrs Bridget Obi, an Okija native & former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Anambra State pointed out “what happened there [in recent times, that led the police to invade the place] was not the culture of our people. Traditional religion was not what we saw in that place. What we saw was just barbaric dehumanisation.”[6][7]