Ijaw

Ijaw religion is the traditional belief of the Ijaw, or Izon, fishing peoples of the Niger Delta, who were trading along the coast by the 1400s. Ancestors are venerated, and the Owuamapu, water spirits who share human strengths and faults, hold a central place: people are held to live among them before birth, and prayer keeps the living in their favour.

Divination called Igbadai questions the recently dead about the cause of their death. Each year festivals lasting several days honour the spirits, and masked dancers are thought to be possessed by the spirits they represent. Egbesu, whose totems are the leopard, panther and lion, is revered as a god of justice.