Ayonigba Sacred River

Africa is a place like no other place in the world. Africa is filled with many traditions and implications for those that refuse to follow the rules and customs of a particular set of people. From worshipping of mermaids, to angry rivers that don’t agree with each other. Many strange things happen in Africa and Nigeria is not left out. We want to tell you about a sacred river that is located in Ekiti State, where they don’t kill the fishes in this river or else, there will be consequences.

This is the sacred river that is located in Erinjiyan-Ekiti, with many sacred fishes that people are not allowed to kill or eat. It is forbidden for anybody to attempt to catch the fishes in this river for consumption. There is a popular story of when someone caught and cooked a fish from the river, but surprisingly, it remained raw even after cooking it for hours.

There is myth about this river, that it was a woman that transformed into this sacred river so many years ago.

The story also says that the colony of fishes in this ancient river, are the children of the woman that transformed into the river. Killing the fishes in this river is forbidden, but whoever manages to kill a fish from this river, will die in abject poverty. Many tourists come from far and wide just to see this river and the wonderful fishes that swim freely inside this river.

People also call this river “Erin. Anybody that catches this fish will also experience water coming out of the floor of his house, until the whole house has been flooded. The person won’t have peace until he or she has returned what was stolen.

Some other facts of this river is that; it flows upwards, the numerous palm trees around the river must not be tapped. More than fifty thousand bats come to these palm trees every year, feed on the trees until it’s without any leaves, leave and then come back again in the following year.

The water from the river is used to prepare charms for traders to have better sales. The fishes in this river are purely cat fish, they are so big and can’t be found in another river. The fishes are very friendly. If you want to see them come out in large numbers, visit the river with bread, locust beans, or beans cake, pour it into the river. You might be scared when you see them rushing out of the river in large numbers.

The inhabitants of this community usually bathe and cook with the water from the river, so it’s completely harmless if you don’t annoy the gods of the river.

So if you are ever hungry and need to go fishing, ways make sure that you ask about the river before you start fishing.