The History of the Kpe Society

The kpe society had access to a whole range of sanctions, starting with boy cots. All members were forbidden to conduct trade with a defaulting debtor. The most hapless victims left tied to trees, their lower jaws removed as a warning to others. It was ingenious, particularly because such societies always allowed any one to buy in and rise through the nine initiatory grades if they could pay the fee. These also exacted, of course, in brass rods the merchants themselves supplied.