Death, Burial and Human Sacrifice in African Religion

The fundamental end objective of every religion is what becomes of man after death. With death is anchored the belief that whatever a man sows on earth he shall reap after death. In other words, if someone is a king on earth, he carries the kingship to life-after death. And being that a king cannot live or travel alone while on earth, it equally means that such a privilege should equally be accorded him on death for his life after death. This is the underlining basis for the use of human beings to bury African kings and High Chiefs during the precolonial era. DEATH, BURIAL AND HUMAN SACRIFICE IN AFRICAN RELIGION¿ Life after Death and the Act of Burying the Living with the Dead among the Igbo of Nigeria is a concise description of how human beings were used for the burial of dead Chiefs and Kings in an African society at the dawn of European conquest. Based on eye-witness accounts of early European Christian Missionaries to Africa, the work further looks at how succeeding events following Christian Missionary and Colonial Government exertions led to its demise, but without totally obliterating the practice, since it is believed to still be in practice in exceptional circumstances.