The Obong of Calabar, Edidem Abasi Otu V, has appealed to Christians in Cross River to stop desecrating Efik tradition, saying, it was the people’s inheritance from their ancestors.

The Obong was reacting to a portion of a book written by the State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Archibong Archibong, which, he alleged, disparaged the “Ekpe Efik”.

He told newsmen in Calabar that the book, “Renaissance of Calabar (Spiritual Perspective)”, was misleading and disrespectful to the culture and tradition of the Efik people, adding that it discredited the Ekpe masquerade.

He, however, said that he had commissioned a critique to be written on the book to put the matter in proper perspective.

He said that it was lamentable that the content of the book intended to bring to disrepute, the culture and tradition of Efik people, nurtured and sustained over the last six centuries.

“Since the contents of the book were made in print, it has become imperative that corrections of the erroneous and deliberate mischief contained in it be made also in print.

“This, therefore, is no exercise in recrimination, rather it is meant to disabuse the public of some of the false details contained in the book,” he pointed out.

He said Archibong made strenuous and ridiculous attempts to condemn, in a fit of religious piety, the Efik Kingship, Ekpe Efik (Efik Masquerade) and pouring of libation.

According to him, the entire Efik kingdom condemns, in strong terms, the line of discourse contained in the book.

He lamented that the “misleading’’ publication came at a time when UNESCO is about to document Ekpe Efik as an intangible and indelible cultural heritage of the Efik people.

The Efik monarch said that it was also regrettable that the said publication was done by Archibong, also an Efik son.

Arcibong had, in his book, discussed several Mbong (Chiefs) of Calabar as well as the qualification and procedure for selecting an Obong .

He condemned Ekpe Efik, Ekuu kingship rites and libation, saying they were invocation of marine spirit, demons and devils wrongly believed to be dead ancestors of the Efik people.

The CAN president also alleged that the Efik people were worshipping the sun god, among other things.

He further blamed all the misfortunes of Calabar (Efik people), including the loss of Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon on these “demonic activities”.