It was a very hot afternoon, Imma stood accused, of having stolen several tubers of yam from Mazi Okoh. Elders gathered under the ancient 'udara' tree, the tense crowd hummed as Elder Eze questioned him. Elder Eze was renowned for his great wisdom and the community always relied on his judgement.
"Imma, there are witnesses here who claim they saw you at Mazi Ozo's compound last night and the tubers of yam was discovered in your yard this morning. What do you have to say to that?” Elder Eze asked.
"Nnanyi Eze, I didn't steal any tuber of yam from anyone let alone from Mazi Ozo, yes I went to his compound last night to pluck bitter leaf, to prepare fever brew for my sick son. How the yam came into my garden is what I don't know. I believe that someone is trying to set me up. I can swear by my ancestors that I didn't steal the yam discovered in my compound"
The elders were not convinced and even Elder Udoka warned Imma of the consequences of lying before the village oracle, but he remained adamant in the confession of his innocence.
In the midst of this tension, Nne Uloma, the village gossip who had this uncanny knack of knowing almost everything that happened in the village, walked into the square.
"Imma is innocent, Chidi, Mazi Ozo's son should be in the best position to answer the question of how those tubers of yam disappeared from his father's compound into Imma's." She said cryptically.
The crowd murmured, shocked by the revelation and the turn of events. Chidi was called forward and with his head hanging in shame, he confessed that he was the one who hid those yams in Imma's compound that night, to get back at Imma for calling him and his friends, scoundrels.
Imma was vindicated and his innocence proven.
This is my first time in this community.