Ibadan (Nigeria) (AFP)

When six-year-old Naziru Abdulwahab was kidnapped in northern Nigeria, his abductor took him to the other side of the country to sell him. But the buyer finally retracted.

What saved the boy from child trafficking networks, according to the police, is the ritual scarification he has worn on the cheeks since birth: the client feared that they can identify it.

The presence of the child nevertheless aroused the suspicions of neighbors who alerted the police, and the trafficker was arrested.

This incident, which took place last June in eastern Nigeria, brought to light an old but endangered practice in Africa's first, rapidly changing economy, with nearly 200 million inhabitants.

It has not escaped the traditional healers, the Oloola, who have made an argument to extol the benefits of scarification, often considered dangerous for children, or even associated with mutilation.

"Our taste for what comes from abroad has diverted us from our customs," says AFP Mashopa Adekunle, an Oloola from the city of Ibadan (south-west).

"No one wants his child to wear tribal marks, people see this practice as archaic, fetishistic and unhygienic".

Brands have different shapes and patterns depending on their ethnic group. The incision practiced on boys as on girls during childhood is by burn or with a blade.

From Yoruba from the southwest to Igbo from the east, to the Hausa farther north, their purpose varies: affirmation of identity, healing, spiritual protection or aesthetic research.

Some Nigerian personalities, such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have such scarifications on their cheeks.

- 'Facial Mutilation' -

"At the time of the inter-communal wars, the tribal marks helped to identify the combatants, you knew who your friends and enemies were on the battlefield," says Mashopa Adekunle.

This practice began to lose ground in the 80s. The Oloola then practiced about 10 scarifications a month, compared to just one today, according to the Oloola descendants association in Ibadan.

Mashopa Adekunle recognizes that the healers, if they want to continue, must take into account the aspirations of Nigerian youth, who are turning more and more to Western tattoos.

"Oloola must do more to convince them that their (scarification) tools can be used safely," he says.

Opponents of this practice have engaged in intense lobbying to prohibit it, deeming it to be disfiguring for life and exposing itself to the risk of HIV infection.

In 2017, the Senate debated a bill on "the prohibition of facial mutilation", but like many other texts, the text has still not been adopted.

In his shabby clinic, while putting his metal instruments in a white handkerchief, Sefiu Yusuf, president of the Oloola descendants' association in Ibadan, sweeps the criticism of the dangerousness of these traditional methods.

"It is a smear campaign by NGOs and government members to (...) bankrupt us," he said.

And Oloola, who inherited his title from his father, wants to believe in the sustainability of his practice. "Just yesterday, I was brought a boy here because our customers believe in our powers," he says. "Even doctors and nurses ask for our help when they have complicated cases."

For Babatunde Hamzat, another Oloola of Ibadan, the disappearance of tradition has serious consequences for Nigerian society, believing that it contributed to the explosion of crime.

"At the time of our parents, a child with tribal marks could not commit any crime for fear of being recognized," he says. "But nowadays, people commit crimes lightly because there is nothing that identifies them".

- 'Family identity' -

Dauda Lawal, a 60-year-old trader, proudly wears his facial scarifications, and says he was happy to pass them on to his children.

"As the eldest son, my parents gave me tribal marks, and even though the practice is going out, I still made sure that my first son was there to preserve the identity of the family. ".

Will he do the same? "I would be happy to do the same for his own son because it's part of our culture and we should not let him die."

An enthusiasm far from being shared by all Nigerians: these scars are often synonymous with stigmatization.

"My child will never wear tribal marks on his face, this practice is outdated and unhealthy," says Lagos beautician Damilola Ajayi.

For this Nigerian woman, "it is risky to use unsterilized instruments in these times of HIV / AIDS and other communicable diseases".

And then, "not to mention marriage," she continues, "I could not go out with a man with tribal marks either, it's disgusting."

© 2019 AFP