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All Journal Dialektika kontemporer Pinisi Journal of Social Science
Kenneth Onah Odibu
University of Calabar
Social Sciences Other

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Ritual as Rehabilitation: Pentecostal Prison Ministries and the Spiritual Remaking of Incarcerated Bodies in Calabar, Cross River State Kenneth Onah Odibu; Gabriel Aduma Odey; Gregory Ajima Onah
Pinisi Journal of Social Science Vol 5, No 1 (2026): May
Publisher : Universitas Negeri Makassar

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.26858/pjss.v5i1.88198

Abstract

 The prison has emerged as a significant site of Pentecostal expansion in contemporary Nigeria, with churches establishing ministries that conduct worship services, deliverance sessions, and baptismal ceremonies within correctional facilities. This paper examines Pentecostal prison ministries in Calabar, Cross River State, arguing that they represent a distinctive form of spiritual governance operating at the intersection of state power and religious authority. Drawing on the anthropology of religion, the sociology of punishment, and the literature on African Pentecostalism, the paper analyses how Pentecostal practices of deliverance, spiritual warfare, and baptism function as technologies of inmate transformation, constituting a spiritual rehabilitation that complements and sometimes competes with the secular programmes of the Nigerian Correctional Service. The study explores the complex motivations underlying inmates' religious participation, ranging from genuine spiritual seeking to strategic performance designed to secure material benefits and demonstrate rehabilitation for parole boards. It further examines the gender dynamics of prison ministry, the theological justifications offered by Pentecostal pastors for their prison work, and the implications of religiously motivated rehabilitation for understandings of justice and punishment in contemporary Nigeria. The paper concludes that Pentecostal prison ministries represent a significant but understudied dimension of the relationship between religion and the state in Africa, one that challenges secular assumptions about the purposes and practices of incarceration.
The Leopard and the Cross: Ekpe Spirituality, Christian Conversion, and the Politics of Religious Identity in Contemporary Cross River State Kenneth Onah Odibu; Gabriel Aduma Odey; Gregory Ajima Onah
Jurnal Ilmu Sosiologi Dialektika Kontemporer Vol 14, No 2 (2026)
Publisher : dialektika kontemporer

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Abstract

The Ekpe society, known widely as the leopard society, is the most significant indigenous religious and political institution in the Cross River basin. Its graded initiation system, esoteric nsibidi script, and elaborate masquerade performances have structured social, legal, and spiritual life among the Ejagham, Efik, and related peoples for centuries. The encounter between Ekpe and Christianity has been long and complex. Early Presbyterian and Catholic missionaries in the nineteenth century condemned Ekpe as paganism and devil worship, demanding that converts renounce their membership. This demand created a profound crisis for converts who were being asked to abandon the primary institution of social and political belonging in their communities. In response, many Ekpe members developed strategies of dual religious participation, maintaining their Ekpe obligations while also attending church and receiving the sacraments. This paper argues that the Ekpe-Christian encounter in contemporary Cross River State represents a particularly rich case study of religious dual belonging, one that challenges Western assumptions about the exclusivity of religious identity. Drawing on the anthropology of African Christianity, the literature on religious syncretism, and decolonial philosophy, the paper explores how Ekpe initiates who are also practising Christians navigate the tensions between two religious systems that make apparently incompatible claims. It analyses the theological justifications they offer for their dual participation, the social pressures they face from both Ekpe traditionalists and Pentecostal Christians, and the phenomenon of Ekpe Christianity, the attempt by some Ekpe members to Christianise the society's rituals and symbolism. The paper concludes that the Ekpe-Christian encounter demonstrates the creativity and resilience of indigenous religious forms in the face of Christian dominance and contributes to the decolonisation of the study of African Christianity.
Co-Authors Gabriel Aduma Odey Gabriel Aduma Odey Gregory Ajima Onah Gregory Ajima Onah