Imagine wanting to be with the love of your life and boom, someone steals her and gets away with it.
The Wodaabe wife stealing festival in Niger, West Africa, is pretty much intriguing. It is a custom loved by some, while at the same time despised by some who do not entertain the idea of their wives going to some people.
The festival is practised by the Wodaabe tribe, which is a Fulani tribe in Niger, West Africa and They can also be found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad and Niger.
This tribe is proud in its outlook, with the males being regarded as very self-conceited because they strongly believe that they are the most handsome men. They even carry mirrors to glorify this 'vanity'.
During the yearly Gerewol Festival, Wodaabe men adorn themselves in elaborate makeup and try and steal another man’s wife.
If they succeed, it becomes a recognised union.
Despite the perceived glories of this custom, some men do not want their wives to be stolen so they do not allow them to participate in the festival.
Would you live in such a tribe and accept this way of living? Should it have a place in the 21st century? Is it taboo?
Source: Deccan Chronicle and The African Exponent