The Lady Who Stopped the Killing of Twins
By: Yewande Adeleke
Tags: Women, Culture, History, Writing, Tradition

The Lady Who Stopped the Killing of Twins

Mary Slessor (Image source: workoutyourfaith.com)

Most people don’t believe that in the past centuries, twins were killed in a certain part of Africa. As far back as the 19th century, the barbaric and archaic custom of killing twins once existed amongst the Ibibio people of Nigeria.

According to this custom, it was considered taboo to have twins. Twins were seen as powerful beings, not humans. They were perceived as bad luck and mini-gods and it was believed that evil had befallen any community where they were born.

While the usual tradition of killing twins persisted, their parents and families were also treated as outcasts. Sometimes it got so bad that some mothers of the “forbidden twins" were banished from the land without any means of support.

The ancient custom would usually require a witch doctor to prepare a poisonous liquid which would be given to the twins to kill them. In villages where this happened, the inhabitants were fully aware of the prevalence of such a custom because many generations were affected and still have stories to tell about it.

In 1876, Mary Slessor, a Scottish missionary was assigned to Efik Land in Calabar, Nigeria. She was well known for her genuine interest in the rights and well-being of women and children. With time, Mary took it upon herself to gradually change the wrongly perceived notion amongst the people that twins were evil. She consistently worked towards changing such cultural belief.

While Mary enlightened the people, she also preached the gospel of Christ. She shared a deeper bond with the people and learned their local dialect, the Efik language. She also ate their locally made food. At some point, Mary started dressing like the other local women residing in the area.

Without giving up her faith, she practically adopted some of the people’s ways of living. However, speaking against twin killing was not a day’s work as it took constant sensitization and education of those who practiced this preposterous custom.

Mary was so passionate about reversing the obsolete custom that she started adopting any abandoned baby that was left to die and took care of them at the Mission House.

Within a short time, she adopted eight children who became like a family to her as she continued her missionary work in more remote areas. She later succeeded in having a few converts who eventually became Christians.

Mary’s impact was immeasurable and in 1892, she was appointed the vice-consul of the Okoyong territory by the British Consul-general, Major Claude MacDonald.

Mary Slessor and some adopted twins who later became family (Source:Maryslessor.org )

After dedicating her life to the service of God and humanity, Mary passed away in 1915 at the age of 66.

Many years after her death, Mary’s legacy lives on as her indelible marks and value for human life are deeply entrenched in the sands of time.

As a form of remembrance and acknowledgment of her great works, the Mary Slessor Foundation was set up in 2002 as a skill acquisition center to train young people. Mary was also the first woman to appear on a Scottish banknote in 1997.

What changed after Mary Slessor’s death?

With the advent of Christianity and civilization, the “twin-killing custom" gradually reduced. For years, nothing was heard about it.

Through Christianity, the people were taught that it was a sin to kill because of the demands of an indigenous belief.

However, in a 2018 article, the Reuters Foundation reported that up until 1996, this act of infanticide was still being secretly practiced.

The report noted that, in fact, some mothers still had to give up their twin babies to children foundations in order to avoid the untimely maiming of their offspring.

Although the communities still blatantly deny that it exists, there are silent whispers that it still operates.

One of the locals who refused to reveal his identity had said: