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The Documentary: Twin towns

Twin Towns

09/05/2024 GMT

Twin towns

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Twin towns

Why being a twin in Nigeria could mean life or death

The Nigerian town that celebrates the birth of twins, and the villages that fear them.

The small rural town of Igbo-Ora, in southwestern Nigeria, proclaims itself to be the “twin capital of the world". It has an astonishingly high twin birthrate. Everyone here wants to have twins, because in Yoruba culture they are believed to bring good fortune and are celebrated almost as deities. 

And yet, in another part of Nigeria, near the capital Abuja, a different community once viewed twins as the manifestations of evil spirits. There were even reports that some twins were killed as infants. For the past 30 years, a local Nigerian orphanage has been rescuing unwanted babies, while working with local people to change their minds. 

Peter Macjob visits both communities to hear about the lives of twins and explore the power of traditional beliefs in these “twin towns”. 

Photo: A woman in Igbo-Ora carries wooden carved figurines representing twin deities, known as Ibeji

Reporter: Peter Macjob
Producer: Alex Last
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound mix: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

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