VIDEO: Amazing Sights & Sounds of the Ekpechor Wonder Ebu aka Ebu Wonder

One of the great benefits of being a researcher is that you get to travel around very often. Over the last 4 years I've had the rare privileged of visiting almost every state in Nigeria, working on one research fieldwork or another. Sometime in 2013, I had the opportunity of attending a funeral in Issele-Ukwu, Delta state. Interestingly, the revered elder who was being committed to mother earth was a huge fan of the Ekpechor Wonder from Ebu land also known as Ebu Wonder. As part of the funeral activities his children decided to pay him a befitting tribute by inviting his favourite Ekpechor cultural troupe to grace the occasion. It was truly a sight to behold!! See video clip below.

First of, who are the people of Ebu, where is Ebu, and what is Ebu Wonder all about?

1. The people of Ebu land are located in Oshimili North LGA of Delta State Nigeria.
2. Curiously, the people of Ebu speak Igala as their native language, as opposed to the predominant Delta-Ibo (anioma or enuani) dialect spoken in the region; although they also understand and speak the general enuani dialect. They were said to have migrated from Igala land in Kogi state a long time ago.
   

   
   

   
   

   * In fact I witnessed an interesting discussion between one of the son-in-laws of the deceased (who’s from Igala) and the group from Ebu. The guy conversed with the group in plain Igala language for about 10 minutes and Ebu people seemed very excited to have seen their brother from Igala land.
3. The Ekpechor Wonder Ebu, popularly referred to as the Ebu Wonder, is a famous masquerade used for entertainment.
4. The Ebu Wonder is exclusively for the people of Ebu land who speaks Ebu language (a variant of Igala) from Osimini North local government of delta state.
5.  It is carried about in red boxes by men (entertainers), who normally wear red and white or red and black.
6. They sing and chant with their drums and when they do so the cloths in cloth in the box form into a shape (like the Igunu masquerade of Badagry) and begins to grow tall into a very tall stage of over 20 feet.
7.  It is also the chant that can bring it down and if the chants stop it cannot come down.
8. Although it is said to be exclusively for entertainment, the perception mostly is that there are some spiritual, occultic or magical aspects added to the stunt. You really cannot tell if a human being is inside or some spiritual manipulation is involved.

I have looked through the internet and found no single video clip of the Ebu Wonder masquerade in action. You may wonder why I have kept this clip to myself for almost 3 years, but I guess there’s time for everything, and I think the time to share this is now. This rare footage of the Ebu Wonder masquerade in action was captured using my mobile phone and I hope you find it interesting.

 Please feel free to share the link and be kind to leave a comment.

 God bless!!