By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

As residents of Ogbaru and the entire Anambra State battle to come to terms with last Friday’s ghastly boat mishap, another twist emerged on Sunday with the self-acclaimed Chief Priest to the marine spirit, Ezendu Onyesom, claiming that the accident was caused by mammy water (mermaid).

The traditionalist, who spoke to journalists, said that the mermaid, who told him during consultation that she was not happy with the dilapidated state of the roads in the area.

According to him, the mermaid said the increased traffic on the river following the bad state of the road was disturbing her peace.

His words: “After the incident, we did some consultations with the queen (mammy water) and she told us that she was angry with government.

“We asked her why she was angry with government? She said the state government has refused to do a major road in the area that got spoilt recently. She said the bad road has made most people in the locality to travel by river to disturb her peace.

“She said before the road got spoilt majority of the people in the area travelled by road. She said the river is meant to be quiet for aquatic life to thrive.

“We are looking for ways to appease the queen to avoid more mishaps because she threatened that more harm would occur on that route of the river if the government refused to do the road.”

Onyesom said that traditional worshippers in the Ogbaru area would want to relate with both the local and state governments to pass across their message.