Oba's Reverse Curse: How a King in Benin Fought Trafficking with Ancestral Authority

Supernatural Contracts, rather than relying on a lawyer and a pen, utilize magical rituals and personal items, such as a lock of hair or a drop of blood. Breaking a legal contract might cost you money, but breaking this magical contract is believed to bring terrible consequences—like illness, death, or disaster upon your family—enforced by a spirit or god.

Exercising Ancestral Authority 

A juju curse is a powerful form of West African supernatural spirituality. Imagine the most powerful and unbreakable promise you can think of, combined with a terrifying supernatural threat. It is also similar to the most potent form of brainwashing or hypnotic suggestion. A corrupt priest or trafficker uses the ritual to implant an absolute belief in the victim's mind: "If you escape, you will be punished by magic." 

The victim's own belief and fear become the jailer, making them comply even when they have a chance to run away. Discover why the juju curses used by traffickers were so powerful and how Oba Ewuare II's historic curse in Benin, Nigeria, broke their terrifying grip to combat modern slavery.

Breaking the Unbreakable Oath: A King’s Fight Against Trafficking’s Magic

Imagine being trapped by an invisible chain, one that fills you with a fear so deep you’d rather stay in danger than escape. For countless victims of human trafficking from Nigeria, this wasn’t just a feeling—it was a terrifying reality enforced by powerful juju oaths. This is the story of why breaking these magical promises was so important and how one king’s courage made it possible.

Why Juju Oaths Were a Trafficker's Ultimate Weapon

Traffickers didn't just rely on locks and threats. Their most powerful tool was fear of the supernatural. Before being sent to Europe, victims were forced to participate in secret juju rituals performed by corrupt priests. In these ceremonies, they would swear oaths tied to their deepest fears: the health of their parents, the future of their children, or their own souls.

They might give a lock of their hair or a drop of their blood to the priest, believing these items held their very life force. The oath sworn upon them was simple: "If you break our agreement—if you try to escape or talk to police—this curse will bring death, madness, or disaster to you and your family." This belief in magical punishment created psychological prisons that were often more effective than any physical chain.

The King's Curse: Breaking the Cycle of Supernatural Fear

Oba Ewuare II, the traditional ruler of the Benin Kingdom, understood that to fight trafficking, he first had to fight this fear. In 2018, he performed a monumental act. He issued a powerful, public counter-curse directed at the traffickers and priests.

His decree did two crucial things:

1. It nullified all existing oaths, freeing every victim from their magical bonds. The King’s spiritual authority, greater than that of the corrupt priests, released them from their promises and the fear of punishment.

2. It placed a terrible curse on the traffickers themselves, promising that the evil they had sent out would return to them threefold.

This intervention was vital because it attacked the crime at its very core: the psychological control that kept victims silent and compliant.

Freedom from Fear

The impact was immediate. With the Oba’s blessing, victims felt safe to speak out, run away, and seek help from authorities. Reports showed a significant drop in trafficking from Edo State. Traffickers and priests, who feared the Oba’s supernatural power more than any prison sentence, saw their operations crumble.

The Power to Break a Juju Curse

The story of the Oba's curse on human trafficking is ultimately about liberation. The juju oaths were so bad because they weaponized a person’s deepest cultural and spiritual beliefs against them. By using his supreme traditional authority, Oba Ewuare II performed the one act that could truly save them: he gave them back their freedom from fear, proving that the strongest magic of all is the one used for justice.

Keywords: break juju oath, juju rituals human trafficking, supernatural fear, Oba's curse, nullify oath, psychological control, Benin Kingdom, Oba Ewuare II, free from curse, human trafficking, Edo State, modern slavery.