Nyongo society

The Nyongo Society is the name of a supposed group of witches believed to exist in Cameroon and Nigeria. The legends were first written about in the 1950s by British social anthropologist, Edwin Ardener, while describing what he called the Nyongo Terror in the present-day Southwest Province in Cameroon. Today the belief in this society can be found from the coast of Cameroon to the Bakossi and Beti peoples in the interior of the country. It is even found amongst the northern parts of the country with the Bamileke and Bamenda peoples.

The term has been used by many tribes and factions in Cameroon. The term nyongo and the first legends can be attributed to the Douala peoples, who lived on the coast. Nyongo is derived from the word nyunga, which they used to describe a person who have captured a magical python, which manifests itself as a rainbow.

Around the time of the Second World War, the Bakweris believed that the society met at Mount Kupe to do their practices. Here the legend split into two different versions.

In one version, human sacrifice was practiced in order to "pay" debts to the N'yongo Society, or else taken to work for the N'yongos in a zombie-like state. It is this version that has persisted since the legend has been co-opted by the Wimbum, with the addition of cannibalistic rumors.

However, in the earlier Bakweris version, bodies were only made to look as though they were deceased. Dead rats would supposedly be placed underneath the person to permeate the body with the smell of death, ensuring a quick burial. After this, the witch, or those dealing with the N'yongo Society, would invisibly extract the person from the grave. This victim would then aid the perpetrator in amassing wealth. The Society also had their own community on Mount Kupe, which ran completely off of the victim's labor, and even had luxuries such as lorries.

As the myth spread, people began to say that you could identify a member by their tin roof. This led to a shortage of new housing, as nobody wanted to be linked with N'yongo by their association with modern housing. However, by the time cross-Atlantic trade had flooded the local villages with wealth, social unrest was beginning to form with a flurry of N'yongo accusations. The locals paid dearly for witch-hunter Obasi Njom to come to their villages and perform ju-ju to rid them of witches from the N'yongo Society.

...
Wikipedia