Ekpo (Ghost) is a cultural society art form that originates from the Efik,

Ibibio Ibibio may refer to: * Ibibio language * Ibibio people * Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio See also * Ibiblio ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections" ...

and

Annang People The Anaang (also spelled Annang) are a sub-ethnic group of the larger Ibibio people, whose land is primarily within 8 of the present 31 Akwa Ibom State#Administrative areas, local government areas in Akwa Ibom State: Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, ...

in the Cross River/

Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Ib ...

in Southern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The practice was also adopted by neighboring regions, namely

Arochukwu Arochukwu Local Government Area, sometimes referred to as Arochuku or Aro Oke-Igbo, is the third largest local government area in Abia State (after Aba and Umuahia) in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people. It is ...

and

Ohafia Ohafia is an Igbo town in the Ohafia local government area (LGA) in Abia State, Nigeria. It is an Igbo speaking region. The ancestral capital of Ohafia town is the centrally located village of Elu. Ohafia Local Government Area, is an administrati ...

( Abia state) during the expansion of the Aro-Kingdom.

History

The Ekpo same in meaning as

Ekpe Ekpe, also known as Mgbe/Egbo (Ekoi language: ''leopard''; derived from the Ibibio term for the same), is a West African secret society in Nigeria and Cameroon flourishing chiefly among the Efiks. It is also found among a number of other ethn ...

, Okpo-owo or Akpo-owo as pronounced by the Efik,

and

Annang people The Anaang (also spelled Annang) are a sub-ethnic group of the larger Ibibio people, whose land is primarily within 8 of the present 31 Akwa Ibom State#Administrative areas, local government areas in Akwa Ibom State: Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, ...

simply describe it as a non-living human or a

dead Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

soul that comes to the land of the living. In

Ekpo Masquerades is practiced by almost all its towns especially during its

Festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Ikot Ekpene Ikot Ekpene, also known as The Raffia City, is a historic town in south-southern state of Akwa Ibom. It is the political and cultural capital of the Annang ethnic group in Nigeria (Nair, 1972). The town is located on the A342 highway that par ...

Etim Ekpo Etim Ekpo is a town and Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. History Created from the former Abak division, Etim Ekpo is one of the Annang-speaking areas. The seat of the local government council is in Utu Etim Ekpo a community ...

Oruk Anam Arekw or O'rekw (also, Oruk) is a former Yurok settlement in Humboldt County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of appro ...

and

Abak :''Abak is also a nickname for the painter Hans von Aachen. For the place in Pakistan, see Abak, FATA.'' Abak is a town and Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The LGA was previously part of Cross River State. It was later sub di ...

as well as the

Eket Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name ''Eket'' or Ekid also refers to the indigenous ethnic group of the region and to their language. The Eket people use the endonym ''Ekid'' for themselves and their l ...

and some other places in the Ibibio land.

In the 21st Century

Due to advent of

christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and modern

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

, the Ekpo Masquerade is no longer regarded as dead souls that comes back to the land of the living, instead it is now known to be a

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

worn by living humans and it is regarded as an integral part of the

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

and heritage of the people.

References

{{reflist Ekpo Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State