By Opurum Timothy
See,
I am never afraid of whatever you want to do to me, king! For we have suffered
enough in this community. What have we not been made to undergo in this land;
what have you and your evil men not subjected my family to? You accused my
mother of being responsible for the death of her own dearly beloved husband and
then banished her from this community for which she almost lost her life in the
process of fighting for the liberation of the female folks from the
dehumanising ordeals which they were subjected to undergo by the land of
Aluchie after the conquest of our people long time ago. Whereas, you, and these
god-forsaken elders connived with yourselves to terminate the life of an
innocent man who, like his wife, fought assiduously against injustice perpetrated
by you and the members of your family. Also, after you had murdered him, you,
in collaboration with some other members of the community took away the land
which he inherited from his father, our late grandfather and shared it amongst
yourselves. You all know that his presence in your occult meetings will retard
your progress in carrying out your nefarious acts.
Elders
of the land, (as he continued, the whole atmosphere was thrown into the
stage of emotion. Tears ran through his eyes in a very conspicuous manner. Even
some of the elders, having heard his grievances, felt for him. Some shook their
heads in sympathy while some others, with guilty minds bowed their heads for
the avoidance of having any eye contact with him)he continued, is this what being an elder is all about, witch-hunting
people and preying on their god given blessings?”
Nodokwe, having said all that he
wanted to say, released the chief he held hostage and fell to the ground,
surrendered himself to be arrested by them.
The king ordered the guards to take
him away and lock him up in the maximum prison. Without hesitation, Nodokwe
followed the guards to the prison where he was detained.
In the prison custody, Nodokwe was abandoned and made to suffer several
deprivations for weeks. No attempt was made to provide him food and water.
After so many weeks, he died in the prison. His body was released to the birds
of the air to prey on. This is the highest calamity that has ever taken place
in the history of the people except in some exception where the deceased died
calamitously. To them, it is a taboo in the land to dispose of dead bodies by
any other method other than burying the body. This threw a great grave silence
in the community. The people were warned strictly never to say anything about
this. Parents, guardians and even masters of servants warned their children,
wards and servants respectively to desist from passing any comment about the
whole situation. They were mandated to keep deaf ears and dumb lips to the
whole situation.
So many years after, the gods which have been
said to have gone dead suddenly arose from their many years of slumbering. The
anger of the gods has now been vested upon the people. Calamities began to
strike. It was as if the world was about to come to an end. So many died
mysteriously and those alive were plagued with diverse infirmities. Wailings,
sorrows and agonies of the highest magnitude were the contemporary issues. The
king became incurably sick. It has been said that his survival is solely
dependent of the return of Elokwe back to the land whether dead or alive. This created a great pandemonium in the
community, and a promise was made to anyone who could give any information as
to the where about of Elokwe. Great searches were carried out by the warriors
in different communities yet she was no where to be found.
Several months later, the king
passed on when all efforts concerted by the warriors and many other members of
the community proved abortive. The whole community remained in shambles and
good life to them is now a thing of the past. “See,
I am never afraid of whatever you want to do to me, king! For we have suffered
enough in this community. What have we not been made to undergo in this land;
what have you and your evil men not subjected my family to? You accused my
mother of being responsible for the death of her own dearly beloved husband and
then banished her from this community for which she almost lost her life in the
process of fighting for the liberation of the female folks from the dehumanising
ordeals which they were subjected to undergo by the land of Aluchie after the
conquest of our people long time ago. Whereas, you, and these god-forsaken
elders connived within yourselves to terminate the life of an innocent man who,
like his wife, fought assiduously against injustice perpetrated by you and the
members of your family. Also, after you had murdered him, you, in collaboration
with some other members of the community, you took away the land which he
inherited from his father, our late grandfather and shared it amongst
yourselves. You all know that his presence in your occult meetings will retard
your progress in carrying out your nefarious acts.
Elders
of the land, (as he continued, the whole atmosphere was thrown into the
stage of emotion. Tears ran through his eyes in a very conspicuous manner. Even
some of the elders, having heard his grievances, felt for him. Some shook their
heads in sympathy while some others, with guilty minds bowed their heads for
the avoidance of having any eye contact with him)he continued, is this what being an elder is all about, witch-hunting
people and preying on their god given blessings?”
Nodokwe, having said all that he
wanted to say, released the chief he held hostage and fell to the ground,
surrendered himself to be arrested by them.
The king ordered the guards to take
him away and lock him up in the maximum prison. Without hesitation, Nodokwe
followed the guards to the prison where he was detained.
In the prison custody, Nodokwe was abandoned and made to suffer several
deprivations for weeks. No attempt was made to provide him food and water.
After so many weeks, he died in the prison. His body was released to the birds
of the air to prey on. This is the highest calamity that has ever taken place
in the history of the people except in some exception where the deceased died
calamitously. To them, it is a taboo in the land to dispose of dead bodies by
any other method other than burying the body. This threw a great grave silence
in the community. The people were warned strictly never to say anything about
this. Parents, guardians and even masters of servants warned their children,
wards and servants respectively to desist from passing any comment about the
whole situation. They were mandated to keep deaf ears and dumb lips to the
whole situation.
So many years after, the gods which have been
said to have gone dead suddenly arose from their many years of slumbering. The
anger of the gods has now been vested upon the people. Calamities began to
strike. It was as if the world was about to come to an end. So many died
mysteriously and those alive were plagued with diverse infirmities. Wailings,
sorrows and agonies of the highest magnitude were the contemporary issues. The
king became incurably sick. It has been said that his survival is solely
dependent of the return of Elokwe back to the land whether dead or alive. This created a great pandemonium in the
community, and a promise was made to anyone who could give any information as
to the where about of Elokwe. Great searches were carried out by the warriors
in different communities yet she was nowhere to be found.
Several months later, the king
passed on when all efforts concerted by the warriors and many other members of
the community proved abortive. The whole community remained in shambles and
good life to them is now a thing of the past.
