Sopona is a good in the western region part of Nigeria(The Yorubas). Sopona is the god of smallpox. The Yoruba traditional religion believed that smallpox was a disease foisted upon humans who offended Sopona. The worshipping of this good Sopona was controlled by specific priests in charge of shrines.
People even believed that if the priests of Sopona were angered they were capable of causing smallpox outbreaks.
Sopona was exported to the New World in the slave trade, where he became known as Babalu Aye in the Orisha religion.
