The Story of the Drummer and the Alligators

Long ago, in the town of ‘Nsidung, south of Calabar in what is now southern Nigeria, lived a woman named Affiong Any. She was married to Chief Etim Ekeng of Hensham Town. They had wealth and a comfortable life, but for many years they had no child.

The chief longed for a son who could inherit his possessions. He made offerings to the spiritual powers he believed might help him, but nothing changed. At last, he consulted a spiritual practitioner who told him that his great wealth was the reason he remained childless. If he wished to have a child, he must share his riches, welcome people into his home and give generous feasts.

Chief Etim Ekeng followed this advice. His wife invited their friends to a lavish dinner, where food and palm wine flowed freely. The chief held further celebrations and spent more of his fortune. When he had given away or spent about half his property, Affiong announced that she was expecting a child.

Explore more stories from our West African Folk-Tales collection.

Overjoyed, the chief arranged another great celebration.

In those days, the story explains, powerful chiefs belonged to a secret organisation known as the Alligator Company. Its members met in the water and claimed to protect their canoes during trading journeys. Yet they also attacked the boats and property of outsiders, seized their money and killed their enslaved people.

Chief Etim Ekeng was different. Although repeatedly urged to join, he refused to become part of the organisation because he did not wish to harm others.

In time, Affiong gave birth to a son, whom they named Edet Etim. The chief celebrated his arrival and decided that, when the boy grew old enough, he would give him half of his property. But this plan never came to pass. Just three months after Edet’s birth, the chief died, leaving his wife to raise their child alone.

Affiong mourned her husband for seven years. Since he had no brothers, she eventually became entitled to his property and used it to care for Edet. She raised him with great attention, and as he grew older, he became a handsome, healthy young man admired throughout the town.

His mother warned him to be careful around the young women who gathered for dances and celebrations. She feared their influence might lead him into trouble. Nevertheless, the girls repeatedly invited Edet to their gatherings, and before long they discovered that he had a remarkable gift for drumming.

With practice, he became the finest drummer in town. Whenever the girls wanted to dance, they called for him. Some became so attracted to him that they left their husbands and asked Edet to marry them.

Their behaviour stirred deep resentment among the young men. Jealousy grew until a group gathered secretly at night to discuss how they could kill him.

They settled on a cruel plan. They would use the alligators to take him.

One night, as Edet bathed, an alligator seized his foot. Others joined in, gripping him around the waist. He struggled desperately, but they overpowered him and dragged him into deep water, carrying him to their hidden home.

When news of her son’s disappearance reached Affiong, she did not immediately cry out or reveal what she intended to do. She remained quiet while she considered how she might save him.

The young men noticed her silence. Remembering a story about a hawk and an owl, they suspected that a quiet victim might be more dangerous than one who openly expressed grief. They therefore decided to keep Edet alive for several months rather than kill him at once.

At cockcrow, Affiong began her search for help. She visited her dead husband’s grave and sought guidance from his spirit. Afterwards, she went to the beach carrying young green branches. She beat the water with them and called upon the spiritual powers of the Calabar River to help recover her son.

She then gathered a bundle of rods and went to a spiritual practitioner named Ininen Okon, who was known for his cleverness and powerful charms.

When the young men heard that Affiong had sought Ininen’s help, they became frightened. They wanted to return Edet, but the rules of their secret society prevented them from doing so.

Ininen discovered that Edet was still alive and being held in the alligators’ home. He told Affiong to remain patient while he worked out a plan.

After three days, Ininen joined another alligator society and inspected the younger alligators’ dwelling. He found a young man he knew standing guard while the others had gone out to feed at low tide.

Returning to Affiong, he explained that he would prepare a charm that would cause the alligators to leave their home unattended. His first attempt did not free Edet, but he learned how their movements could create an opportunity.

Three days later, the alligators went out again, this time travelling farther away and taking longer to return.

As the tide went down, Ininen transformed himself into an alligator and swam to their dwelling. There he found Edet chained to a post. He took an axe and cut through the post, setting the young man free.

In the dwelling, Ininen also discovered seven loincloths belonging to the alligators. He gathered them as evidence and took them with him when he led Edet away.

Edet had suffered terribly during his captivity. By the time Ininen brought him home, he could neither speak nor hear properly and seemed unable to recognise or respond to his mother. Affiong embraced him, but her son sat silently, unable to show that he understood her.

Ininen assured her that he would recover. He prepared charms and gave Edet medicine. After some time, the young man regained his speech and became himself again.

Affiong knew that simply bringing her son home was not enough. The men responsible were still free, and the secret society remained a danger to others.

She therefore devised a plan of her own.

She dressed in mourning clothes and allowed everyone to believe that Edet had died. She kept him hidden on a farm and continued to behave as though she were grieving. When the alligators returned and discovered that their captive had escaped and their seven loincloths were missing, they searched for him. But they found no trace of him.

Six months passed. The young men gradually forgot their fear and assumed that Edet was gone for good.

Then Affiong approached the town’s chiefs. She requested a public gathering at the palaver house, explaining that her husband’s property needed to be divided according to the customs described in the story, since her son had supposedly been killed by the alligators.

The chiefs summoned the people, young and old, to attend the meeting.

Early that morning, however, Affiong secretly brought Edet to a small room behind the palaver house. She placed him there with the seven loincloths Ininen had recovered.

When everyone was seated, she stood before the assembly and recounted her family’s history: her marriage, her long wait for a child, her husband’s death and the care with which she had raised her son. She then explained how jealousy over Edet’s drumming had led the young men to arrange his capture by the alligators.

She challenged the assembly to consider what her son might have achieved had he been allowed to live, and she questioned the destructive organisation responsible for the deaths of so many people.

The chiefs were already angered by the losses the society had caused, including the loss of their enslaved people. They declared that if evidence could be produced against its members, they would put an end to it.

Affiong then called for Ininen Okon to appear with her son.

To the astonishment of the gathering, Ininen emerged from the room holding Edet by the hand. He placed the bundle of seven loincloths before the chiefs.

The young men who had plotted against Edet were horrified to see him alive. Some tried to leave, but the chiefs ordered them to remain seated.

Ininen explained how he had entered the alligators’ dwelling, rescued Edet and recovered the cloths. He had initially hesitated to identify their owners because some belonged to the sons of chiefs. Now, however, the chiefs demanded that he reveal everything.

One by one, Ininen unfolded the bundle and called upon the owners to claim their loincloths. Each man who stepped forward was detained and questioned about his organisation. The seven young men eventually revealed the names of the society’s members, thirty-two in all.

The chiefs ordered all thirty-two men to be executed the following morning. They were tied to posts and guarded throughout the night as fires burned and drums sounded.

At about four o’clock the next morning, a large wooden drum was placed on the roof of the palaver house and beaten to announce the coming punishment.

The condemned men were untied, their hands bound behind their backs, and they were marched to the beach. There, the head chief addressed the people and declared that he would put an end to the deadly custom that had claimed so many lives.

The punishment that followed was horrifying. The men were killed in different ways, including beheading, flogging and drowning. The story describes these executions as the fulfilment of the chiefs’ sentence against all thirty-two members.

For many years afterwards, the people said that no one else was killed by alligators.

But the story did not end there. Some time later, the ground along the road between the beach and the town collapsed, leaving a deep hole. People said that it was the alligators’ home. They repeatedly tried to fill it, but, according to the tale, they never succeeded.

And so the story connects Edet’s rescue, the destruction of the secret society and the mysterious hole that remained in the land.

Explore our complete Historic Folklore & Fairy-Tale Collections archive.

Moral

Jealousy and the abuse of power can destroy lives, while courage, patience and careful planning can help expose wrongdoing. Affiong’s determination shows the strength of a mother who refuses to give up on her child.

However, the story’s violent conclusion also invites readers to consider the difference between holding wrongdoers accountable and seeking revenge through cruelty.

Knowledge Check

1. Who was Edet Etim’s mother?

Affiong Any, who raised him after his father died.

2. Why did the young men plot against Edet?

They were jealous of his drumming talent and the attention he received from the young women.

3. Who rescued Edet from the alligators’ home?

Ininen Okon, the spiritual practitioner who helped Affiong.

4. What evidence exposed the secret society?

Seven loincloths recovered from the alligators’ dwelling. Their owners were identified, leading to the exposure of the society’s members.

5. What happened at the end of the story?

The chiefs ordered the execution of the thirty-two members. Later, a deep hole appeared between the beach and the town, which people associated with the alligators’ home.

Source

The retelling is based on “The Story of the Drummer and the Alligators,” Chapter XXXVIII (pp. 146–152), in Elphinstone Dayrell’s Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa, published in 1910 by Longmans, Green and Co., with an introduction by Andrew Lang.

Explore More West African Folk-Tales