There is an ethnic group in the mountains of the Northern region of Nigeria, that is hardly spoken about and in fact, rarely mentioned despite its interesting culture or generally, it’s ideologies. This ethnic group, known as the Koma tribe, resides in the Atlantika mountains in Adamawa state and shares border with Cameroon.

Though beyond sharing border with Cameroon, it also seems to share some ideas and moral standards with the neighboring country. For years the tribe was simply unknown, Undiscovered and obscure until the wandering of a Corps member led to the discovery of one of the most interesting things in the forest, a tribe that has been in existence for so long and has managed to keep its identity and religious beliefs despite the developments and technological advancement in cities and nations surrounding it.

The Corps member discovered the ethnic group in 1986, and at the time, they remained untouched and unaffected by civilization  despite being officially recognized as Nigerians since 1961. There are several interesting things to note about this tribe, but perhaps the most significant would be listed and discussed below. First thing to note is that the tribe exists in a groups of three, there are those who dwell in the hills called the Beya and Ndamti, those who settled in the low lands and finally, the Vomni. They have been recognized as a group that speaks its original language without code mixing or code switching. Their original language is said to be called Kona language named after the tribe. Remaining true to their way of life, they still dress up in native manner, using leaves and animals ski but beyond their dress codes and dress modes, what stands out remains their ideology.

These group or groups were said to have been without a religion when they were found, they were basically atheists, devoid of any of the known religions in the world and were in fact, considered to have been without a traditional religion. Though recently one would find Christians and Muslims since civilization has found its way into their midst but way before they were saturated by outsiders and foreign beliefs, they held very interesting belief systems of their own. Not as religions but as a way of life; for instance, in the Koma tribe, women often inherit her mother’s properties and belongings while men inherited their father’s things.

Occasionally, there are mentions of a deity called Zum, perhaps as their supreme deity, who grants wishes. This counters the idea that they were atheists but still it would seem as though serving this deity, wasn’t exactly something that all in the tribe did. Though serving this said deity, Zum wasn’t much of a religion for them as it was just what they believe was the normal thing to do since Zum is the name given to the Sun in their culture. They saw the sun as a supreme entity, that grants wishes, helps bring vitality to crops, humans and their environment. It was basic instinct for them to worship the sun as we have seen in several tribes around the world even in Europe where there is always a mention of a “sun-god”.

The above descriptions may have given an insight as to why they are called a primitive group, but there is more to this tribe than what they wear and their belief in a sun god. There are certain actions and process or perhaps the best word to use would be to call these things, rituals that are performed by the Koma people that just seems quite disturbing especially for those of us who have gotten quite used to the ideas of modern development. One ceremony that stands out for this tribe is the actions and steps they take when they spot a twin. According to sources, the Koma people do not exactly fancy the idea of twins, it would seem as though they detest the idea and as such, when they find a mother who recently gives birth to a twin, they believe such woman and her family has committed an abomination that could put their tire existence in jeopardy.

Obviously, to maintain the existence of their tribe, they then take very drastic steps which involves sacrificing the twins to the land, in appeasement or perhaps in an attempt to stop whatever evil that the birth of said twin would unleashed on the world. In this ritual, they bury both the mother and twin children, alive. Though this barbaric practice is believed to have been phased out among the Koma people in urban areas, the ritual is still very much in practice among the ones in the rural villages.