Alo Uno community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state has continued to practice a culture that allows women to be made properties belonging to community shrine while they are forcefully married out to old men who cannot afford a wife.
MAWA Foundation, who visited the community leaned that young ladies were forcefully married to old men on the claim that a SHRINE called Adoro has taken them as its properties.
Mrs. Judith who prefers her first name mentioned told MAWA team that she comes from the Okutu community in Nsukka local government and was forced by her family to come and live at Alo Uno on the claim that she is now the community Shrine property.
Judith told the MAWA team that she was chosen as the Adoro shrine property four years after the death of her father.
She narrated that her father did a lot of terrible things while he was alive, most of them were killing people using local charm and poison.
She, however, added that immediately after her father died, she was chosen as the community shrine property which serves as a consequence of her father’s evil act while on earth.
Judith explained that, at first, she rejected her family’s decision to become Adoro’ss property by coming to live at Alo Uno.
“The moment my family told me that I have been chosen to be Adoro Shrine property, I rejected it and gave my life to Christ, but the family and the Shrine started tormenting me, I could not help it, but to surrender to the community shrine, today I am his property and was forcefully married out to an old man against my will,” Judith said.
Other community residents who spoke to the MAWA team, said there are over 1000 women from other towns such as Okpuje, Okutu, Ibagwa, Obukpa whose women are now Adoro shrine properties and have been married to old men who most of them cannot afford to marry.
Mr. Ebuka, a community resident, told MAWA that women, who are Adoro shrine properties, were chosen by the shrine as a result of the evil committed by their father while they are alive.
He added that the shrine has a potent power that cannot be faulted by any member of the community while it often chooses beautiful young ladies as a sacrifice.
Ebuka told the MAWA team that the ladies when chosen by the community shrine become part of the chief priest’s household and are married out to old men in the community who cannot afford a wife.
Mr. Ezekiel, a pastor in the community, told the MAWA team that the culture has been in existence for a very long time, pointing out that while some members of the community are kicking against it, some especially the old men and women want it to continue.
Ezekiel disclosed that often, people outside the community do not marry from Alo Uno because they are afraid of the Adoro shrine, pointing out that the community members are stigmatized because of the shrine