Call it abomination, anathema, or evil, you may not be entirely wrong.
Nevertheless, a man simply identified as Mark and his daughter (names withheld) have been banished in Nenwe Town in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State for allegedly impregnating the later.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that the incident happened on Thursday, October 15 following the alleged discovery that the father was responsible for the pregnancy, an act described as an abomination and a serious violation of the land’s traditional customs of the community.
According to our findings, the villagers considered the alleged act evil and punishable under their tradition.
However, in a move said to be aimed at averting the wrath of the gods of the land, the community summoned the man and his pregnant daughter, escorted them to the boundary between Nenwe and a neighbouring town, and sent them away from the village.
WITHIN NIGERIA source revealed that gunpowder was reportedly released in fulfilment of the community’s tradition, with a declaration that the man and his daughter must never return to Nenwe again, either in life or in death.
So, tied with fresh palm fronts round their necks and waists, the father and daughter were sent away from the community for ever.
An elder who spoke on behalf of the village reportedly explained that the decision was not taken because the people deliberately wanted to be wicked to the man and his daughter.
Rather, he said, “the man had brought the punishment upon himself by violating the norms and traditions of Nenwe.”
According to the elder, banishment was the traditional punishment for committing such a sacrilege, adding that the community had unanimously agreed to expel both of them from the land.
He further declared that, “from this day onward, the man and his daughter were forbidden from returning to any place associated with Nenwe, whether in life or in death.”
Despite the banishment, the elder reportedly said the community still wished them well wherever they might find themselves.
In a further warning, a second speaker reminded the man that the consequences he was facing were the result of his alleged actions. He warned that if the man encountered any son or daughter of Nenwe in his new place of settlement and dared to maltreat that person, the land of Nenwe would strike him to death.
The speaker reportedly declared that, from that day onward, the man and his daughter were considered dead to the community, adding that nothing concerning them would matter to the people of Nenwe and the Agbada community.
One of the residents of the community, Chinedu Ugwu told our reporter that ” since I was born over forty years now, I have not heard or seen this kind of sacrilege in our land. It is very disheartening and sacrilegious to engage in such act. They are now considered dead as far as Nenwe is concerned.”
The Enugu state police command is yet to comment on the matter as the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO of the command, Daniel Ndukwe couldn’t pick his calls by our reporter.”
