I want to really thank @futurethinker for organizing this contest. It is one of the best challenge I've ever found to be inspiring
MY MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE
I've had alot of memorable experiences. Some seems to make me strong, some weighs me down while some serves as a lesson. When I came across this challenge, the first memorable experience that came to my mind was my encounter with the 'Ekpo Ekong' masquerade.
'Ekpo Ekong' is a masquerade play in the village. When the festival is on, normally in Ember months, the masquerades are not permitted to be seen by females nor males who are not initiated into the play as the consequences would be that such a girl that sees the nakedness of this masquerade would be taken to the masquerade squre and slept with and the male would be forcefully taken to the masquerade square and be initiated fulfilling all the necessary dues as well.
Till today, I've never shared this experience with anyone, not even with my mother. Don't be surprised that's because I'm always afraid to tell people the story but after reading a lot of other peoples painful experiences, I decided to share mine.
WHEN AND WHERE IT HAPPENED
For a while, I lost sight of my friend.
He traveled to a far distance precisely the northern part of my country. He was serving his father land there. That was August last year. He came home on 1st september. When he came back after his three weeks stay in the NYSC camp, You can imagine how happy I was seeing someone I missed for three good weeks. I needed to spend a lot of time with him. We gisted and shared some memories together.
We visited lots of places and one of the places we visited that gave rise to this unforgettable experience was his mother's village in Ibiono local government area , akwa ibom, a state in Nigeria.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After we had visited the last place which was his uncle's house, he said to me, "its been long have not been to my mum's villAge, I think I should go there before I return" I saw it as a nice idea. So we embarked on the journey
On entering the village, the street was quiet, i was surprised. I just recalled that it was 'ember month which is usually the month of masquerade festival in most of the villages. I knew of that village to be so serious in such festival. I quickly told my friend that it seems that the masquerade festival which is common in Ibiono is on which might be the reason why the village is quiet. He laughed over it and rode on. We passed by a few men and safely we arrived at his grandpa's home in the village.
His grandfather is late, no one is there anymore in the compound, we only visited to check on the place, spend a few time and come back. The compound was as quiet as, the neighbours greeted us and went back to their business while we concentrated on what we went for.
On finishing what we went for, we took off to make our way out of the village. It was as if we were the only one in the village as it became quiet even more than when we entered. We rode to a certain bushy area of the village, and just like a dream, we were surrounded by a certain group of masquerade called 'Ekpo Ekong' from no where.
They used matchet to beat my friend amd I. while we even tried to make our way down the bike. How I managed to come down the bike, I don't know but I just saw myself outrunning two of the masquerades and making my way to the closest compound I saw.
I ran and entered the nearby compound thus escaping from them. Sweating profusely, I looked at the faces of people that surrounded me, all were strangers. They seems to be caring. They were trying to calm me down. They gave me a place to sit and were trying to ask me why I went out on such days. I was just managing to explain to them that I was a stranger. On knowing this, they all sighed and pitied me the more.
As I regained consciousness, it just downed on me that my friend was outside facing reality. I asked those strangers what will become of him and they told me there was no remedy but that he has to face the punishment. I started crying, begging on the guy I saw to go for his rescue. He accepted to go and help.
While he left, I peeped through the window, low and behold, I saw my friend in the midst of the masquerades.
There he was kneeling down and begging the masquerades whose faces according to him he was not seeing nor hearing what they were saying as their faces were covered and their mouth covered with something that alters their voices.
What helped him was when he told them that he was a grandchild in that village and explained exactly who his mother's father was and they refrained from their actions. They decided to let him go.
That was when I discovered that in the rules of Ekpo Ekong, they are never permitted to hurt a grand child of the village. Nevertheless, they said he won't go unpunished because he has brought a girl to see the nakedness of Ekpo Ekong. He was asked to appease the masquerades by giving them any amount of money of his choice. This he gladly did without thinking twice.
They ordered him to come and pass with me but that I should close my eyes while passing them by.
He didn't know I was safe neither did he know where I was. He was led by a stranger who saw where I was to come and pick me.
"Thank God you are not hurt" I said immediately I saw him. We left thanking those strangers. By this time, I was more scared going out. I was counting my steps.
One guy in the neighbourhood said, "don't be scared just pass but cover your face"
I quickly climbed the bike, closef my eyes and We took off.
My eyes were tighty closed as we passed them
"How will I who has never been initiated into Ekpo Ekong came out of this mess as being initiated was against my faith and what has become of my girlfriend" my friend told me was his thoughts while with them.
For more than 3 days, I couldn't get back myself as I was still thinking about the incident. I Even dreamt about it. It wasn't a nice experience but I will say its been a memorable experience in my life. How we got saved has become my testimony today.
