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ABSTRACT
It is normal to scheme and employ any weapon to achieve the defeat of an opponent in warfare. Among modem states, such weapons include diplomacy, guns, machine guns, bombs, and missiles; but traditional Africa, such weapons include the use of craft, magic, sorcery and other spiritual forces. This is because it is believed that the involvement of spiritual forces in warfare is far more potent than simply reliance on human/material forces and techniques. This is exactly the belief and practice among the Etsako of Nigeria in their approach to their communal warfare. But the question remains: How is sorcery and witchcraft employed in warfare? Is the use of those spiritual elements in traditional African setting potent and relevant in modern warfare? This essay indicates that in Africa, as in the example of the Etsako of Nigeria, the use of witchcraft, magic, and sorcery is always a potent force in warfare, both traditional and modern.
Introduction
THE ETSAKO OF NIGERIA, expending less energy and dissipating minimal blood, have always emerged victorious in all their intercommunal warfare; but protracted fighting, the uncertainty, and the inconclusiveness of intra-communal wars attest to the complexity, sophistication, and efficacy of their weapons of war, which essentially involve witchcraft and sorcery. While we are not interested in the discussion of the nature of intra-communal wars among Etsako communities, in the following pages we shall analyse the nature of warfare and the efficacy of weapons in traditional Africa, concluding that witchcraft and sorcery are veritable instruments of war among the Etsako. In the process, the following questions naturally emerge: What is war or warfare? What is magic, witchcraft or sorcery? And how can these apply in warfare, including modern warfare? Moreover, how potent are they as weapons of war? By making extensive references to historical and modern examples, we suggest answers to these questions. It is instructive to begin by defining our major concepts and to delineate our area of study.
The Etsako and Spiritual Forces in Warfare
Etsakp is a division of the Afemai region encompassing the entire geo-political landscape of the northern part of present-day Edo state, Nigeria. Uzairue, Avianwu, Anwan, Ekperi, Aviele, Auchi, Okpella, Jagbe, Weppa-Wanno, and Imiegba are some of the clans of the 'Etsakp division'. These...