Twins appear to be in unusual abundance in Igbo-Ora, Nigeria’s southwestern city.
According to local chief Jimoh Titiloye, nearly every family has twins or other multiple births.
For the past 12 years, the community has hosted an annual twins festival. This year’s event, held earlier this month, drew more than 1,000 pairs of twins from as far away as France, according to organizers.
There is no scientific explanation for the high rate of twins in Igbo-Ora, a city of at least 200,000 people located 135 kilometers (83 miles) south of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
Many people in Igbo-Ora believe it is due to women’s diets. Alake Olawunmi, a mother of twins, attributes it to amala, a local delicacy made from yam flour.
According to John Ofem, a gynaecologist in Abuja, “there are things they eat there that have a high level of certain hormones that now result in what we call multiple ovulation.”
While this may explain the city’s higher-than-average rate of fraternal twins, Igbo-Ora also has a significant number of identical twins.
Those are the result of a single fertilized egg dividing into two, not of hyperovulation.
Taiwo Ojeniyi, a Nigerian student, said he attended the festival with his twin brother “to celebrate the uniqueness” of multiple births.
“We cherish twins while in some parts of the world, they condemn twins,” he said. “It is a blessing from God.”