Nigerian Journal of Oral Literatures (No. 3, August 2016, 83-100) ISSN-1595-1715 DYING TRADITIONS IN IGBOLAND: IKU OFO AND THE MODERN JUSTICE SYSTEM JOHN IWUH, PhD Department of Theatre Arts, Redeemer’s University, Osun State, Nigeria Email: johniwuh@yahoo.com Abstract This paper examines the neglect of some traditional methods of punishment that prevented crimes and sustained the ethics and moral codes of the Igbo people before the modern institutional legal process. The dying practices of ikwa ala, ipa mkpo, and iku ofo are three obvious methods that guarded against incest, crimes like stealing and other forms of wrongdoing. Also threatened are eshe and ituaka that honour the dead at burials in order to maintain or restore the dignity of a family as well as prevent envy and attack of ancestral spirits. However, Christianity is opposed to these practices. This paper interrogates the dilemma of the Igbo society caught between these practices and the constitutional legal practice in the 21 st century, which has greatly reduced the practice of these effective traditional methods of punishment in most communities. It thus questions the hope of a crime-free society in the foreseeable future given the allowances of modern justice system and the conflicts posed by questionable moral culture of modern Nigerian society. With illustrations, the paper examines some of these punishments in (ancient) Igbo land, how they kept crimes in check, some reasons for their decline, and the attractions of the modern justice system in the Nigerian society. Key words: Tradition, Justice, Igbo, Eshe, Aladimma Introduction Tradition embodies a people’s custom and belief. It is defined as a way of doing something that has existed for a long time among a particular group of people. The inclusion of belief means that tradition is almost inseparable from the people’s form of religion while customary connotes that such a practice has become institutionalised in the people’s culture and way of life. Most African traditions have ancestral backing owing to the fact that it dates back to thousands of years as inherited practice. Iku ofor and others