Tuesday , March 12 2024

Offiah River In Enugu Agidi Where Women Could Get Barren For Not Keeping To Rules

 

Written by Ifunanya Ibeh, Mirabel Ezeakudo, Esther Dibia, Isioma Okonkwo, Jamie Enemchukwu, and Nkechi Chukwunedu

 

Enugu Agidi is a town located in Anambra State. Its scenery is very attractive and has so many beautiful places to be in. The river, farms and other amenities gives the village such a unique beauty.

Enugu Agidi Achall is a village in Enugu Agidi with interesting cultural practices, including belief system that may sound strange to people outside this community. This is a peaceful town with value system that has stood the test of time. You would want to visit this town after reading this story, if not for anything else, at least to see the Offiah River, a great tourist attraction.

A group known as the star tv team took a trip to the village and saw things for themselves. Knowing how the people of Achalla Enugu Agidi love farming, the team first visited their farm and rendered help to the villagers with the removal of weed on their farmland. The star tv team thereafter utilized the opportunity to interview one of the oldest women in the village (Nne Amaka) who spoke about the people’s love for farming and how the people of the olden days appreciated farming more than any other thing.

The team of star tv also took a stroll to a stream in the village called the Ofiah River. This river has very interesting but a bit scary rules, especially when it has to do with women. Here it is regarded as a taboo to put on slippers into the river. This is because the ofiah river is seen as a sacred place acknowledged by the gods and the people. It has some rules and one of which is that the Ofiah river is to be visited by women from 7am to 6pm. After 6pm it is believed that particular curse of bareness would follow such ladies, unlike men who are allowed to be at the river in whatever time they please.

The beauty and mystic thing about the Ofia River is that it has different sections for men, a different section for women, another section for washing breadfruit (Ukwa) and a forbidden section where no one is allowed to trespass.

Also, the water that is fetched from the stream is not to be carried on the head with wrappers. It is instead carried with banana leaves used as support (Aju) and if one disobeys this instruction, the victim would pay a fine and other consequences.

Just like other villages, the using of firewood to cook is no exception for the people of Enugu Agidi. They believe that using firewood to cook instead of gas cooker or stove, makes a meal taste a lot more better than that of the modern world. The people of Enugu Agidi also believe that women are not allowed to climb palm tree or palm kernel tree. It is only meant for men in the family.

The people of Enugu Agidi have a strong tradition against the killing and eating of snake (eke). If anyone should do anything like that, the person has to bury the snake like a human being. That is the person would get a casket, cook, buy drinks to celebrate the funeral. Also, the villagers are not allowed to eat yam until the new yam festival have been observed.

Nne really treated the star tv team well, allowed them into her place and fed them well to a sumptuous meal in as much she knew they were just srangers. This is to show that the people of Enugu Agidi are free spirited and sees everyone as their own even though you are not from the village.

The Achalla Enugu Agidi people are very peaceful and welcoming. They are lovers of health, wealth and also accept strangers with love. They are blessed with a lot of vegetation and forests which they believe are blessings of God.

It was a wonderful experience with the people of Enugu Agidi.

 

About Chinenye Nwabueze

Nwabueze is a writer with passion for cutting-edge news

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2 comments

  1. Why is it that there are not killing snake in achalla village because for they to have such tradition they should be a reason

  2. Very interesting. What happens to a woman from agidi that engages in an extra marital affair. Is there any spiritual implication like facing the wrath of the god’s etc?

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