Untold story Of "The Attenuation well" which erases the Memories of Anyone who drink from it.
It
was mostly used by slave traders and played a role in slave trade.
If
you take a walk through Gberefu Island in Badagry, an ancient water well which
still stands on the slave route, known as the 'Attenuation Well'. This is
usually the final drink before heading into the ship.
If
you take a walk through Gbefuru Island in Badagry, an ancient water well which
still stands on the slave route, known as the 'Attenuation Well'. This is
usually the final drink before heading into the ship.
Legend
and history have it that the attenuation well has magical powers which erases
the memories of people who drink from it. Therefore, African slaves were made
to drink out of it. They lose the memories of home and become loyal to their
masters. It essentially takes away their consciousness and cut their
psychological ties with their origin.
They
were easily controlled this way.
A
school of thought explained that it is why it was usually difficult for them to
revolt or fight the slave masters during the trip because they outnumbered the
slave masters, who were usually not more than 10 or 20.
Yet,
they were always inactive throughout the course of the journey.
The
attenuation well used to stand without a shelter. So recently, it was roofed
with thatch for preservation and a small wall was built as a border around it
because children often threw stones and sticks into it.
This
wall also discourages anyone from drinking from it. Even without the wall,
nobody dares fetch water from the well because of the story from its past.
Source
-onyenjem
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