By SAH TERENCE ANIMBOM
Monday, March 5, 2018 saw a total ghost town in Fundong that was meant to be violated only by the custodians of the Kom culture and traditions which happens to be the Kwifoin led by Bobe kwifoin.
The Kwifoin came out from the Kom palace and walked to the Fundong Grandstand where they met with representatives of the sacred societies from all the 9 valleys and hills of the Kom land to jointly perform the rites.
Away from broad view, the Kwifoin and the sacred society members performed their respective duties while the population stayed at home and waited for ululating signals to be sent across the entire Kom land, thus chasing away the atrocities that have been committed in the Kom land by both forces of law and order and radicalized youths believed to be members of the Ambazonian Defense forces.
It is worth noting that not a single military officer was seen outside in the Kom land during the ritual. Some who had dared to take a walk in the quarter during the early hours of the morning ran into the confines of their home when they heard the first ululating shouts and did not came out again until the next day. Traveling to and from the land was grounded and all businesses were closed.
Talking to the Bobe Kwifoin, the traditional Prime Minister of the Kom land, he told The Sun that the Kwifoin felt it necessary to perform such a ritual because they have seen a lot of bloodshed in the Kom land and have to stand up and do something to stop it.
According to Bobe Kwifoin, when the military kills people with guns and civilians kill military officers with machetes, the land is desecrated and something has to be done to stop the killings.
He said the consequences for spilling blood after such a ritual are grave and cautioned the population to stay calm. He also thanked the administration for their wonderful collaboration and non interference in their activities.
The second day of the ritual allowed a few people to move around but no one was allowed to go to the farms.
Nformi Banaki Amos Lainsah told The Sun that contrary to some social media the reason for keeping people away from streets was because the rituals were not good for the ordinary eyes and thus necessitated that the population stays indoors to avoid complications.
The cleansing ritual involved the three most sacred societies in the Kom land known as nkfuum, ngviin and iseh in a ceremony known as ikuoh i nkfuum. These sacred societies only come out together in times of serious calamities upon the land.
Each of the three societies has a specific task to complete during an outing and most often, the outings are done separately.
The ngviin comes out almost on an annual basis to bless the farming season and stop evil spirits known as muso from destroying crops and houses of the kom people. It is common to get to a farming field during the rainy season and meet all crops pushed down by wind especially maize since it is the main staple food of the Kom man. The Ngviin therefore comes out to stop evil spirits that may come in through the rivers and the air or even by land.
The iseh comes out to push away strange illnesses and to bless and calm the minds of the Kom people. There are several cases of sick children, who could not be treated in hospitals, healed by iseh by bathing them with traditional concoctions and oiling their bodies with secret ointments. The children were reported to have been healed with three days.
The iseh also helps women with fertility problems to be able to conceive. It therefore comes out to bless the land and to calm the minds of its people and to ward off any evil intentions on the minds of the people.
The Nkfuum on its part comes out to burn and kill any existing evil spirit in the land and to chase it away for good. it is so powerful and rarely makes an outing. The last time this powerful society made an outing was in 2001 when some mysterious insects destroyed crops and farmlands in Kom.
It was only comparable to the locust plague in biblical Egypt and made the kom man suffer terribly as there was immense hunger that particular year.
The venerated nkfuum came out and everyone stayed at home as required and burnt the nkfuum as the ritual is called. The burning of nkfuum is followed by ululating shouts of anger throughout Kom land till midnight.
According to some Kom natives, it is this particular ritual which sent away the mysterious insects in 2001 and not even a single insect was seen the next day.
It is worth noting that these three societies, whose functions have been explained above, only jointly come out when there is a kind of serious calamity that is considered to pose a general problem. The last time such an outing was made by the three societies was in the 1960s.