ABSTRACT
A few hundred miles away, civil war was raging in Eastern Nigeria – the Nigerian civil war in which one million lives were lost. It was a war between the Nigerian government and the Igbo tribe, one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, who had declared secession from the Nigerian nation state. Abiku, according to a belief among the Yoruba of Western Nigeria, are spirit-possessed children who come into this world with the sole purpose of dying young so as to inflict pain on the unfortunate mother. An Abiku is usually not content with coming and going once, but usually completes some life cycles with the same mother. If a child suffers from frequent illness shortly after its birth, there is a suspicion that the child might be an Abiku. An Abiku is believed to have some spiritual powers, which can be used to harm those whom he or she loathes.
