Asigidi Society

According to Efosa, membership is open to Edos and other ethnicities in Nigeria , and that men and women are eligible for initiation within the society, although the "predominance of male elders is undeniable" (2009, 480).  

             

The professor indicated that the society is "potentially very dangerous for individuals who join them" (5 Oct.2012). He also indicated that even though positions within the Asigidi society are not inherited,

[i]f one person's parent was a member of the Asigidi Society, and that person had been exposed to their activities (e.g. meetings held at his or her parents' house while the child was present so that over the years the child grew up knowing the identities of the Asigidi; or, the parent deliberately pledged that his or her child would become a member; or, if the child had been used as an assassin by the Asigidi in the sense that he or she had been the "courier" who went into a target's compound and added poison to the water source or whatever), that child would be expected to join). So, in essence only someone who has had a history with them in a very close manner can be intimidated into joining. And if this were in Edo and other state  in particular (or within that region generally), their intimidation might work. Notwithstanding, the primary means of membership is forceful if the parents take oath with the cult  that their eldest kid will join and it's  voluntary. In most situations, individuals deliberately and voluntarily join these societies because they want power, financial rewards, and success…. (Professor 5 Oct. 2012)

A Nigerian Observer article reports the case of a young man who is reportedly being "hunted" by Asigidi chieftains after he refused to take his late father's position in the society given his Christian beliefs (The Nigerian Observer 19 Feb. 2009). One of his family members reportedly said to the Nigerian Observer that, as of February 2009, the man had not returned to his home since 2007 "because of the potential threat to his life" (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found by the Research Directorate among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this Response.