Oath-taking and resolution of issues of death accusation in Ebonyi state, South East Nigeria: evidence from bereaved family members

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined oath-taking and resolution of issues of death accusations in Ebonyi State Nigeria. One hundred and eighty adults who had experienced death in the family participated; 84 completed a questionnaire, 48 were interviewed, and 48 others participated in focus group discussions. The participants were selected using a snowballing sampling technique. It was found that some participants believed that some deaths cannot be natural. Suspicious deaths often led to accusations. This study provides a cultural perspective to understanding causes of death and is expected to guide community leaders in addressing the issue of death within their areas.

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank those who have helped in making this work a reality. In particular, we thank those who made themselves available to be used as respondents. We are also grateful to our reviewers who have painstakingly given us useful corrections that have helped to improve the quality of this work. We thank our research assistants for being helpful to us in data gathering. To all others who contributed in one way or the other in the preparation of this work, we say thank you. The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.com) for the English language review.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).