No one is allowed to fish or harm the fish in the river.

Hello, everyone.

We all live and hail from different communities; every community has a law guiding them, and everyone who hails from or lives in that community must live by these set rules or pay the consequences. Sometimes the consequences for breaking these laws are grief, and no one will want to try it, but we still have a few people who still fall victim despite the set rules. I know of a community that has set rules: whoever is caught stealing will get their fingers chopped off, leaving the thief with a scar to remember for life, and whoever sees your fingers chopped off already knows the crime you committed without asking questions; it is more like a mark.

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I hail from the Ndi-ibe community in the Ohafia local government area of Abia State. One law guiding the people that have been in existence for ages is the prohibition of fishing in any of the Ndi-ibe rivers. Even if you accidentally scoop one of the fingerlings or fish into your bucket while fetching water, the moment you get home and realize it, you expected to return the fish to the river. Before Christianity, the people worshipped a god called Ifeokwayi, believed to be a water god, and all the creatures in the river belonged to this god, so no one was allowed to harm them.

Those days, women took turns cooking for this water god, and we had a story of a woman who went blind two days after she refused to cook, claiming she was now a Christian and didn't want anything to do with the deity. Those days, this god was believed to be the source of all the water we have, and all the rivers and streams in my community were named after it, and till date, those names stand. It was a very strong god, as people whose residences are close to the rivers say they hear singing at night. The no-fishing law has been passed down from generation to generation and seems to be the only law I have not heard of or seen anyone break in the community.

Before I saw them for myself, my mom and dad told us stories about how all the fish in the river have a white line drawn over their eyes, just like we see native doctors in the movies. It was hard to believe until I saw them for myself. This made it more real, as even the stature of this Ifeokwayi before it was destroyed by Christians had a white line over both eyes too. They no longer worship this river god, but they still stick to these rules to date, and no one wants to be the first to break them or give them a try.

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We were told stories that if you accidentally scoop a fingerling without knowing, a man comes to knock on your door in the middle of the night to tell you to make sure you return the fingerling or fish back to the river first thing in the morning. Christianity might have taken over the community, but I doubt if there will come a time when fishing will be a thing in my community.

_{This is my entry for day 6 of the InLeo monthly prompt. You can join by clicking the above link.}

Thanks for reading my post.