Dark humour, social media, and everyday violence in Nigeria: gbaa ya ọkụ in Onitsha city

Abstract

The roots of aggression and revolt in Nigeria, as in many African countries, can be traced to urban areas. Cities have also become vibrant environments where citizens openly express humour about their everyday lives, engage in ridicule regarding their economic and social challenges, and share jokes about society, government, and the credibility of institutional agencies in safeguarding lives and property. Urban Onitsha, a city populated by migrants in Anambra State, Southeast Nigeria, stands as a troubled metropolis characterized by both criminals and armed community groups seeking to control crime. The latter, predominantly made up of frustrated civilians, regularly engage in the unlawful practice of gbaa ya ọkụ (burn him/her/them), which involves capturing and burning alleged criminals with car tires (necklacing) and gasoline, while also maintaining humorous expressions at the locations where the act was performed. This article argues that the humorous use of gbaa ya ọkụ is an active expression in Onitsha that underscores necklacing as a performative act used to attract government attention to economic and social issues, entertain the public on how to treat victims’ bodies, and raise inquiries about the prevailing social order within the contemporary African urban context. The research investigates the choice of locations and spaces where acts of necklacing occur in Onitsha and questions their significance in exploring their use as hashtags on social media. The research, while using Onitsha city as a study area to examine violence as a humorous graphic display and postcolonial governance in Africa, draws on autoethnography, eyewitness accounts, ethnography, and interviews in Onitsha to further understand the context within which this public violence happens, and why the police and other armed forces are unable to quell it.