Thread by @SMBofAfrica

Invasion of #necropolis in times of #COVID19 is bringing into bear some of the havocs happening to dead bodies.

This reminds me of the so-called #resurrectionists and a piece I wrote sometime ago....

#CemeteryHistory #DeathHistory

saharareporters.com/2020/05/26/syn…

"In Search of Ori Gbigbe & Ori Tutu: #Resurrectionists in 19th Century Edinburgh and 21st Century Nigeria" - by Sesan Michael Johnson @SMBofAfrica

With shared pains, I voluntarily enlisted as one of the gravediggers when one of my uncles was being buried in his house premised...

... on Islamic rituals. Remember that encumbered in Islamic doctrine is the belief that one of the best things you can do for a deceased is helping in his/her final liminality to eternity. More importantly, there are providential rewards (lahda) for doing this.

Suffice to say that current funeral protocols of the Yorubas have Western and Arabic entanglements. Immediately the body was lowered to mother earth, a concrete mix was poured, even though the gravestone was not to be done that same day.

#GraveStudies
#CemeteryHistory

If you care to know, this measure was a protectionist detour to prevent resurrectionists from stealing or dismembering the dead body. Body-snatchers (also known as ‘resurrectionists’) would dig up the bodies of the dearly departed and sell them off.

As a historian, this protectionist detour against the resurrectionists reminded me of the horrific stories of resurrectionists both in Edinburgh, Scotland in mid 19th century and necropolis across Nigeria in the 21st century.

#Necropolis #DeathStudies

On the one hand, the ghoulish story of Burke and Hare of Edinburgh will continue to be a historical reminder of the ‘resurrectionists’ and the various nuances that have characterised body snatching for medical purposes in the United Kingdom.

#Ressurrectionists

Before the Anatomy Act in 1832 in Edinburgh, the generality of the people saw nothing wrong in cashing in on Edinburgh’s roaring trade in dead bodies for dissection by medical students.

#MedicalHistory

However, existing literature have reinforced how the sales of dead bodies for medical cadaver amplified murder cases in Edinburgh before the Act.

#MedicalCadaver #MedicalHistory

On the other hand, invasion of #necropolis in 21st century Nigeria as reported in major news media premised on Police investigation had continued to point to cases of money rituals and the likes.

In recent times, these have become alarming spreading like wild desert fire across all the geo-political zones of Nigeria.

Ref:

saharareporters.com/2020/05/26/syn…

Sales of dead bodies have become lucrative in blackest markets (where they demand for ‘ori gbigbe, ori tutu’), thereby leading to massive invasion of necropolis.

#Ressurrectionists

There were commonalities and variances in the various entanglements and reactions characterising issues of body snatching in the two countries. These paradoxes and corollaries need further empirical historicism