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Cauldron, Bubble. Key figure in the inquiry is 72-year-old Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie, reputed founder of Owegbe, No. 2 man in the provincial government and, as a proud Beni, a natural opponent of Chief Osadebay. Witnesses told Justice Alexander that Omo-Osagie led Owegbe rites in his own home—grandly titled Osana House—in Benin City, even mixed Owegbe potions in a human skull. Second in Beni eyes only to the Oba of Benin—the titular ruler of the Benis—Omo-Osagie denounces the investigation as a plot to reduce the Benis to political impotence: seven of the province's 20 Cabinet ministers have been named by witnesses as members of the cult; their ouster from the government would obliterate the Benis as a political power. Says Omo-Osagie: "If we are pushed out, the Ibos will come and dominate the place." His followers characterize Owegbe as nothing more than a masonic society: one describes it as a "group of Odd Fellows." The Oba himself, 66-year-old Akenzua II, at first opposed Owegbe, now gives it his tacit support and maintains inside his palace one of the most impressive juju shrines in Benin.
Juju itself is not on trial. Even the most sophisticated Nigerians carry amulets to ward off evil spells. Juju shrines dot roadsides throughout the country, and in 1960, to ensure good weather for week-long independence ceremonies, the Oba of Lagos reportedly hired witch doctors to drive away rain. Even the government counsel testified to the efficacy of juju potions, assured Justice Alexander that, properly treated, the flesh was impenetrable to a sharp whack from a machete.