Angry Enugu residents banished father and teenage daughter accused of incest(PHOTO-Facebook) The Enugu State Ministry of Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development has rescued a 16-year-old girl who was banished from her Nenwe Community in Enugu State over allegations that the father impregnated her. Nenwe is a community in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State. The teenager (name withheld) was banished from the community alongside her father on Thursday.
PREMIUM TIMES obtained video clips circulating on Facebook showing some angry community residents warning the teenager and her father never to return to the community. The crowd led the duo to the exit point of the town. Residents were heard raining curses on the duo, who were draped in palm fronds, a traditional symbol of abomination in Igbo land.
An elderly resident was heard in one of the clips telling the daughter and the father that the community members were banishing them because what they allegedly did was a taboo in the land. “Nenwe did not offend you. You were the ones who offended yourselves and defiled our land. “We are not happy that we are banishing you people from Nenwe.
We’re banishing you people because you have defiled the land with the abomination you committed,” the resident said in Igbo language. Many Nigerians say while incest remains a taboo in most African societies, banishment is an ancient practice that should be discouraged. The Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development in Enugu State, Ngozi Enih, said her ministry has now rescued the teenager and taken her into safe shelter.
Mrs Enih, in a statement posted on her Facebook page on Saturday, explained that the ministry’s intervention followed public outcry against her banishment.