History Of Ebira Land – PDF (Colonialism, Militarism, Monquest, Resistance, Truculent, Independence, Riots, Clans, Cloth, Weaving)
Since 1999 when democratic governance returned to Nigeria several components of it have been undergoing
violent conflicts majorly due to domestic contradictions that have bedeviled the country for long. Kogi Central
Senatorial District inhabited mainly by the Ebira people had its share of the violence; indeed, one of the most
gruesome in the post 1999 democratic Nigeria. Thus, the need to reinterpret the historical foundation of the
current experience.
Table of Contents
History Of Ebira land
History Of Ebira land can only be taken from the British invasion of the area in the late 19th Century, The bid to conquer Ebira land by the British began in 1860 when the British firm the National African Company, had
become firmly established in the Niger-Benue Confluence area with its headquarters in Lokoja.
The British conquest when it finally came in 1903 was gruesome and brutal.
It was, simply put, militaristic. Yet as dramatic
as the conquest was pursued, it was typically inconclusive, because the Ebira put up resistance to the intervention
in their geo-polity for more than one and half decades, marking it out as one of the polities where the British had
a difficult task in establishing an ubiquitous colonial control and despotic political economy.
This study is therefore about the military manner in which the British conquered Ebiraland, the military manner in which the
people resisted the conquest, and indeed how the phenomenon laid the foundation of militarism in the socio-
political milieu and material contestations in the area.
A study of this kind gives colour to the diversity in the
African conquest by the colonialists and the people’s resistance to the imposition, especially as it hopes to x-ray
the experience of a policy that had no centralized chain of command during the pre-colonial era, or what is
generally known in African history as a non-centralized political system. The colour would become more
appreciated as the study intends to carry out this survey from the purview of military interpretation of sources
away from the usual simplistic and casual examination of economic and socio-political imperatives and
ramifications.
The outcome will benefit both students and scholars of colonialism, military researchers, political
scientists and sociologists. Public administrators, policy makers and military strategists will also find the
outcome of this research useful.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, the British government began to establish and maintain a colonial state in
Nigeria.
This ambition which was knitted in exploitation and civilization propagation involved some long
processes. It was eventually realized through the employment of carefully designed but dubious measures.
As materialistic and civilizational as the motives were, it was expected therefore as it did happen that colonialism was
achieved via military imposition, expansion and consolidation.
In the Nigerian areas, resistance and opposition were also military and confrontational though ineffective for
many reasons beyond the scope of this work. The bid to conquer Ebiraland, like other pre-colonial independent
states and principalities in what later became the Northern provinces effectively began in 1860 when the British firm, the National African Company, had become firmly established in the Niger-Benue Confluence area with
headquarters at Lokoja.
As their well-known stock-in-trade, the British conquest was decisive and brutal.
Yet as dramatic as the conquest was pursued, it was typically inconclusive, because the Ebira put up resistance to the
intervention in their geo-polity for more than one and half decades, marking it out as one of the polities where the
British had a difficult task in establishing an ubiquitous political control and despotic socio-economic order.
A study of this kind gives colour to the diversity in the African conquest by the colonialists and the people’s
resistance to the imposition. The efforts of most historians have been concentrated on the large centralized pre-
colonial polities like the Sokoto caliphate, Benin empire and the Borno sultanate.
This study in contrast, brings to
the fore the experience of a polity that though organized, had no centralized chain of command during the pre-
colonial era, or what has been wrongly termed segmentary society.
Secondly and more importantly, this study is a re-interpretation of sources from military perspective.
In the past,
scholars of British rule in Nigeria were often looked at the phenomenon simplistically from economic and socio-
political imperatives, but the deep rooted nature and the insidiously corrosive manner of the consequences of the
British imposition and governance have called for a fresher review of historical materials from military angle.
This outcome is hoped to benefit both students and scholars of colonialism among historians, political scientists,
sociologist and public administrators.
In Ebira land, which is almost the modern Kogi Central Senatorial District of Kogi State of Nigeria, socio-political violent crises since the colonial era, including recent ones when democracy was returned to Nigeria (1999-2009)
could be remotely traced in part to the nature and style of the British invasion and rulership of the area during the
period between 1903 and 1960.
In essence, while this research hopes to add to the existing literature on the
subject matter, it practically intends to complement productively the scientific story of this most debated historical
phenomenon.
Students and scholars are better equipped with a comprehensive and multidimensional
documentation.
Human Geography Study Of Ebira Land
Before venturing into the main gist of the work, it is pertinent to identify and situate the study area geographically
and socio-politically.
The Ebira, who constitutes the focus of this research, are the people of Okene, Okehi,
Adavi and Ajaokuta local government areas of Kogi State. The word “Ebira” refers to the people themselves,
their language and their geographical location. Using the name of the most popular town of the land, we may
refer to them as Ebira Okene. Other Ebira groups are Ebira Igu in Kogi and Koton Karfi local government areas
of Kogi State.
Ebira Toto and Umaisha of Nassarawa (Toto) local government area of Nassarawa State, Ebira Mozum of Bassa
local government area of Kogi State, and Ebira Etuno of Igarra District of Akoko-Edo local government area of
Edo State.
Other Ebira are to be found in Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory and Agatu in Benue State, all in
Nigeria.According to Greenberg’s classification of African Languages, Ebira speakers belong to the Kwa group of
the Niger-Congo family, which also comprises the Nupe, Gbari and Gade (Greenberg 1966). But Hoffman and
Bendor-Samuel in their studies of Nigerian languages set up Ebira as a separate entity (Adive 1985:56-57).
Recent in depth research indicates that the Ebira have been part and parcel of what is now generally known as
Central Nigeria since 1000 BC (Ohiare 1988).
Studying the various groups in the Niger-Benue Confluence area using historico-linguistic tools, historians rely on
its branches like genetic classification, dialectology and glottochronology in which historical time is a core tool of
analysis.
Though Greenberg attempted to resolve the problem of languages of the Niger-Benue Confluence area;
recent historical research by Benneth, Stark, Blench, Williamson and others confirm the antiquity of the human
population in the region. They contend that by 4000 B.C, the Benue-Congo proto-language from which most of
the languages spoken in this area evolved had already developed. These studies derive Ebira language from the
Nupoid group (also called Niger-Kaduna) of languages including Nupe, Gwari and Gade.
The Nupoid, according
to historical jurists took off from a proto-language described as the Benue-Congo from which other language
groups which include the Platoid group also evolved (Benneth 1972, Stark 1992, Williamson 1967).
In terms of archaeology, stone implements recovered by Soper, Davies and Shaw from the Ebira zone, extending
from Keffi Nassarawa-Izom westwards to Jebba and further upstream, have been associated with the Sangoan
assemblage. The reading from this implements indicates that man have lived in this area as far back as more than
forty five thousand years ago.
The Ebira zone is also prominent in the pre-historic civilization of the Iron Age
generally characterized in Central Nigeria as epitomized by Nok Culture. Even recently in the late last century,
the iron-working site of Ife-Ijummu (Kogi State, Nigeria) has been dated to 260 B.C. (Ohiare 1988, Williamson
1967, Beneth 1972).
Thus, part of the conclusions that can be derived from all these is that the Ebira as a group
existed for a long time in locations within Central Nigeria not too far from where they are located presently.
The Ebira Okene occupy the hilly stretch of land southwest of the Niger-Benue confluence area and share
boundaries with the Yoruba-speaking people of Akoko, Owe and Ijumu to the west; the various Akoko-Edo
people to the south and south west; the Hausa, Nupe and Ebira groups at Lokoja to the north; and the River Niger
to the east.
A prominent physical feature of Ebiraland is the conspicuous presence of dissected hills and
metaphoric rocks. In addition there are blocks of Metaphoric rocks which enveloped the greater part of the land.
Most of the hills rise to a peak of 2000ft and suggested that they probably represent the remnants of an old post of
Goindowana pediplain (Clayton 1957).
African laterite and plain which embraces the greater part of Ihima, Okengwe and Ageva are characterized by
extensive undulating plains (1200-1400ft). They are studded with smooth rounded rocks of inselbergs.
According to Omorua, an anthropologist who conducted extensive field work in the area in the third quarter of the last
century, laterite soils are derived from metaphoric rocks of grayish-buff (18 inches) and clayed pan which overlay
vascular iron stone (Omorua 1959:1).
The depth of the soil varies; ranging from two to three feet to about three
inches where the ironstone approaches the surface, as in the Itakpe hills in Adavi district.
There is also the Niger literic plain forming a lower terrace below the higher plains.
This is conspicuous in
Ajaokuta, Eganyi, Ebiya and part of Adavi in the north and north-east of Ebiraland.
Another very important feature is the rim from the highland. This escarpment which extends to Ihima, Eika and part of Ajaokuta widens
into a broad zone of dissected hills.
The soil formations of the rims are mostly skeletal, consisting of pale brown
and orange brown sands and grits. The escarpment contains quartz stones interspersed with pockets of deeper
sand wash (Omorua 1959:1-2)
The implications of these features in the historical past and contemporary times are many and diverse.
The nature of the topography which is shaped by climatic cycles has affected the relief pattern of Ebira land. The relief
marked out of the dissected peaks with knife-edged ridge, and steep v-shaped valleys.
Valleys of this type occur
in Okene, Okengwe and Eika towns.
Apart from exerting much influence on the climate, the features in part
provided security and protection for the ancient Ebira.
Thus they resisted external incursions into their geo-polity
as in the case of the Ajinomh jihadist wars in the 1880s discussed elsewhere (Okene 1990:26-30). Indeed,
topography influenced the Ebira sense of militarism.
Though essentially a peaceful and highly cultured polity, the Ebira’s feeling of security in the hills, caves and
blocks of dissected mountains instilled beauty, valour and courage in an average citizen.
The Ebira polity was not
always afraid to take on aggressors and cross boundary incursions. Furthermore, the features influenced the
pattern of the people’s technical know-how as it relates to the production of crafts like pottery, dyeing and
blacksmithing and of the people instruments of production and destruction such as hoes, cutlasses, spears and
bows and arrows.
The Ebira were famous in Central Nigeria for the production of these crafts (Barth 1990:510-
515; Jones 1969:38).In contemporary times, these features served as a reservoir of the iron-ore deposit now
discovered in the mid 20th century in large quantity in some hills of the land. Itakpe hill in Adavi district alone
has an iron-ore deposit estimated at 47 million tons, and above and of more than 60 per cent iron content (Okene
1995:37).
This is meant to provide raw material for the Ajaokuta Iron and Steel industry set up by the Federal Government
of Nigeria. Other minerals to be found in substantial commercial quantities in Ebira include marble, limestone,
copper, chalk and mica.
Economic and Political Organizations on the Eve of the British Occupation
The nature of the physical environment influenced not only the land tenure system but also agricultural practices
which in fact were the main determination of the people’s economy.
Agricultural production was geared towards
both domestic consumption and exchange. Almost every household, which was the basic unit of production, was
involved in farming.
Over time the people through production efficiency, division of labour and specialization
took advantage of both internal and external economies of scale. By early 19th century, realizing its potentialities,
the Okengwe district for instance, specialized in the production of beniseed which it traded and exchanged with
the groundnuts, the production of which Adavi clan-groups and communities in the immediate north of the land
had also became specialized (Okene 1995:79-84).
Ebira Cloth, Dressing, Weaving
Apart from fishing and hunting, which complemented farming, the Ebira economy also to a remarkable level,
depended on local industries and craft production like palm oil, animal husbandry, iron technology and
blacksmithing, textile dyeing, wood carving and basket, mat and raffia weaving. Because of its unique nature, the
textiles industry requires a brief discussion. Cotton, the main raw material of the industry, is a crop of antiquity
with the Ebira.
The Ebira had migrated with the crop and with the knowledge of its production to their present
location, the soil of which was fortunately very favourable for its commercial cultivation.
An exclusively female
preserve, the distinct technique employed by the Ebira textiles producers was vertically mounted single loom
system, locally called Oguntoro.
According to Brown (1970:60), Ralph Willis (1972:51), Picton and Mack (1979: 17,82).
The Ebira cloth weaving
had undergone series of styles, patterning and specialization that made it excellent and one of the best in the
Western Sudan before the advent of the British rule. In the same vein, Henry Barth noted in 1851 that Ebira
woven cloth favourably rivaled those of other areas in terms of pattern, colour, decoration and texture.
Indeed,
Barth did observe the superiority of the Ebira woven cloth compare to other regions in the Kurmi International
Market, Kano when he visited the City during the same period (Bath 1990:511).
Indeed, during the Nigerian Civil War when the Nigerian Army ran short of imported textile materials, the Ebira
textile and woven cloth came to the rescue.
According to Ahmadu Buruja Adoke who served as a War
Correspondence with Second Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by Colonel Murtala Muhammad, Ebira
cloth and textile stuff were patronized by the Military to produce Army belts and covering material.
The Federal
Government of Nigeria was to later patronised the Ebira woven cloth in the immediate post Civil war Nigeria era
(Suberu 2008:92-93).
Generally speaking, the settlement pattern of the Ebira in their present location was largely determined by the
topography of the area and their migratinal groupings.
Ebira Clans
They settled in highly knitted related families, kindreds,
clans and clan-groups on several hill tops which include Eikoku-Okenegwe, Okehi, Ukpai and Okerekere.
The socio-political institution which became consolidated over time were primarily geared towards the maintenance of
discipline, social harmony and peace which were essential ingredients for social relations and economic progress
within Ebira ecological zone and in the people’s diplomatic relations with other polities.
The basis of political organizations of the Ebira started from the family. As the smallest unit, the family consisted of the father, wives,
children and grand children. The unit lived in a specially designed Ohuoje (compound) while the Ovovu (outer
compound), was the exclusive use of other people under the custody of the family. These included the family
slaves, war or famine refugees on asylum and family labourers. The oldest surviving male was the head of the
family.
He personified the cultural, clannish and economic heritages as the representative of the ancestors in the
family.
Several families who believed they were patrilineally related by blood formed the next political unit of lineage,
abara. The head was the oldest surviving male of the lineage.
Though, his decision was not final as he had to
consult with the head of the families that made up the lineage, the chief had prerogative power over the economic
activities of the lineage. The lineage land and relics were vested on him and the sylvan produce of the lineage
were gathered in his palace annually for distribution to the various member families based on the ancestral law of
age grade.
Several lineages have survived to the present. These include Etumi, Avi, Adovosi, Egiri and
Ogagu.
The clan was the next political unit of the Ebira of this study. Though third in the strata, the clan was the
main and most sensitive of all the political units. Each clan had both a prefix in its name of either Ozi (i.e
children of) or Ani (i.e the people of) and a totemic symbol indicating either a sacred object or an animal attached
to their clan name.
In the past, a clan name and a totemic eulogy served as identification marks for the various migrational groups or
parties.
In the same vein totemic euologies and prefixes could be historically used to trace how clans migrated,
evolved and developed over the period of time. The head of each of the clans, many of which have also survived
to the present was the oldest surviving male. His power was nominal as he administered through consultation.
Nevertheless, he was considered the representative of the ancestors in the clan. He therefore executed sanctions
and controls over its members. These were thought to emanate from the ancestors who watched over the affairs
of the people from the world of the ancestral spirits.
The largest socio-political unit among the Ebira was the clan-group locally called Ekura. About six of such clan-
groups survive to the present. They are Okengwe, Okehi, Adavi, Eika, Ihima, and Eganyi. Though each was self
autonomous, they however related on issues of common concern.
The head of each was Chief-Priest, Ohinoy-ete.
Each group was made up of several clans believed to have distant patrilineal blood ties. For instance, the
Okengwe group comprised of Akuta, Ehimozoko, Avi, Esusu, Ogu, Asuwe, Omoye, Omovi, Eira and Adobe.
The
Chief-Priest consulted the heads of the clans on any serious matter affecting the group. In addition, he
administered justice in conjunction with his deputy, Ohireba, and the council of elders of the group.
Despite the obvious limitation to his authority, the Chief- Priest was the highest spiritual and socio-political head
of the clan-group. He was believed to have a daily communication with the ancestors.
He ministered to, and
indeed mustered the earth shrine to solicit for fertility, adequate rainfall and good harvest. He exercised sanctions
and ensured control, discipline, and compliance with the societal norms and rules.
He was vested with the
interpretation of the ancient ancestral laws through divination, sacrifices, exposure, knowledge and experience.
Through these, the six Chief-Priests in close cooperation, consultation and communion with one another were
able to administer justice and maintain the society of Ebira in relative social harmony uptill the eve of the British
invasion in 1903.
The British Interest in Northern Nigeria
The British and indeed the European contact with the various groups in Northern Nigeria dates back to the early
exploration across the Sahara Desert.
Through trading, particularly the trans-Sahara trade, the British became
aware of some of the polities of Northern Nigeria. This was infact a reason for the dispatch of the various
expeditions and voyages of exploration. But it was only in the mid 19th century that the British became more
interested in developing a close commercial relationship with the Niger-Benue territory where their traders had
been operating.
By the last quarter of the 19th century, the British firm, the National African Company (NAC),
had outflanked other European competitors in the Niger-Benue trade (Blindloss & Co. 1968:297).
In fact, so intense were the rivalry, jealousy and suspicions among the competitive commercial European firms
over acquisition of special territorial concessions in Africa that the Berlin West African Conference was convened
to settle issues and to design new rules of acquisition game.
The Conference, which took place from November
13th, 1884 to February 20th, 1885 tried to bring some forms of discipline and sanity to a situation that looked as
though it might rapidly get out of hand. With no African present, the rules for the partition of West Africa into
units that were to become the basis of modern nations were determined.
Understandably, geographical adjustment and allocation took into consideration the guidelines that had been set
by the activities of European traders, missionaries and administrators in the eighty-old years since the official
abolition of slave trade (Crowther 1976:63).
With her firms already established in part of the region, what later
becomes Northern Nigeria was assigned to Britain under the terms of the Berlin Conference. Convinced by the
prospect of commercial and material gain in the Niger-Benue trade and indeed the entire Northern Nigeria, the
British Government began to encourage its trading firm to consolidate its control over the region.
Through dubious treaties with some of the indigenous chiefs and community leaders, the company, which had by
1886 metamorphosed into the Royal Niger Company (RNC), obtained a charter to administer the territories
claimed. In an apparent attempt to consolidate its hold on the trade of the region, to ward off other European
rivals and to foist its civilization on the area, the company commenced military conquest of Northern Nigeria,
beginning with the states bordering the Niger-Benue confluence area.
This marked the end of the independence
of the indigenous communities of the region. By 1900, when Lugard formally took control of British affairs in
Northern Nigeria, a large number of polities, especially in the Niger-Benue confluence area, had been
incorporated into the British Empire through military highhandedness.
These included Ibi, Donga (1885), Bida,
Ilorin (1897) and Wase (1898).
The British conquest of Ebiraland
The situation which finally culminated in the forceful occupation of Ebiraland in 1903 by the British imperial
power began to unfold when in 1886 Goldie secured the seal of the British Privy Council for his company to
become the Royal Niger Company (Suleiman 1992:86-95).
During the same period, Lokoja, a confluence town
bordering Ebira which had nevertheless been the abode of the various British officials became strengthened as the
operational military base of the company, and it was here that the violent conquest of other areas of the North was
to be organized and executed.
However, this was not to be the first time an organized invasion was plotted against
the Ebira.
Ebira And Sokoto Jihadists
History Of Ebira land
Between 1865 and 1880, the Ebira had successfully engaged the Sokoto jihadists who sought to make
them vassals of the Caliphate conglomerate.
For several reasons which are beyond the scope of this research, the
Ajinomoh jihadists as the Sokoto jihad organized from Ilorin and Bida against Ebiraland was called by the people,
were engaged and severally forced to retreat.
Despite the considerable obstruction caused by the Jihadist activities in the land, the Ebira of Okene, Eganyi and
Eika Ohizeni, principal towns of Ebiraland which were not so much devasted by the Ajinomoh Jihadists, carried
on their trade and commercial transactions with the Royal Niger Company in Lokoja and Ajaokuta.
Trading in
articles like palm oil and kernels, cotton and beniseed, which were much needed by British firms, and profiting
from the favourable terms of trade, the Royal Niger Company soon carved out Ebiraland in 1890 as falling within
the company’s territorial jurisdiction (NAK. Lokoprof, 213).
But the presence of the Ilorin and Bida Jihadists in
the territories immediately bordering Lokoja to the south and north to RNC, persistently jeopardized and offset
the free flow of trade and the commercial system.
This offset was unacceptable to the Royal Niger Company which opportunistic economic glee was unquenchable.
The company quickly set up a fort in Kabba, adjacent to Ebiraland to the west, under Captain Turner, an officer of
the Royal Niger Constabulary (Willis 1972:51). The fort served as a military base and raw material collection
centre. Hiding under the pretext of ensuring free movement of trade in the region, the Royal Niger Company
annexed Bida and Ilorin in 1898.
The conquest of these two areas obviously should be seen within the general
context of British imperialism and indeed the militarisation of the colonial expropriation and annexation of areas
of Northern region.
The collapse of Bida and Ilorin in the face of the Royal Niger Company’s superior tactics, strategy and
mercenaries was greeted with marked apprehension and consternation in Ebiraland.
Like their encounter with the
Ajinomoh Jidadists, the Ebira thought they would be able to fight and protect their territorial integrity from the
company’s onslaught and imposition of its own terms of trade.
The opening up of the interior from Lokoja was a
fundamental factor in the economic aggregation of the British.
Opening up the interior, the British felt, was the
only way they could guarantee constant and cheap supply of raw materials and other products.
Eventually when
Frederick Lugard took over from the Royal Niger Company in 1900 as a commissioned agent of the British
administration in Northern Nigeria, the question of physical occupation of the interior areas and linking them up
directly with the maritime business was uppermost in his programmes.
It is thus not surprising and indeed due to deliberate design, that in the same year Lugard sent two of his
assistants, Captain Beddoes and Lieutenant Grant with eight rank and files, to Ebiraland to negotiate the ceding of
the land to the British (Willis 1972:47).
However, the mission of Captain Beddoes and Company was not
successful as the Ohindase Avogude Okomanyi refused to grant the British their request. As the most powerful
clan-group chief of the land at the time, Avogude of the Okengwe clan-group insisted on equal terms of
commerce and reciprocal civilization relationship with the British.
He nevertheless promised them, on behalf of the Ebira people, free access to trade and reciprocal social relations
(Aviniwa, Ihima, Eku 1994).In addition, Avogude, a patriarch, introduced Beddoes and his team to some of the
leading men of Ebira.
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They included Agidi Ukako, Owudah Adidi, Atta Omadivi, Achegidi Okino, Agbo,
Echimakere Ihima and Adai Oricha. The leading men of Ebira were divided as to what should be the Ebira
relationship with the British.
While Achegido Okino, Agbo, Oricha and the delegates from Ihima and Eika
advocated frontal confrontation and therefore took up an uncompromising stand against the British, Atta Omadivi,
Owudah Adidi, Akpata Ihima and company, realizing what could be achieved in terms of material and social
influences from the new order, decided to compromise, and invariably made a deal with the British (Badamasuiy,
Onipe, Atta).
While the anti-British elements saw the stand of Omadivi and company as a sell out. Atta Omadivi and company
were said to have used their eva, divination and through their experience in Ako raiding business discovered early
enough the military strength of the British and therefore the futility of resistance (Eku, Atta, Onipe). The anti-
British elements nevertheless, won the day.
In their abhorrence of, and disdain for the alien negotiators they
attacked Captain Beddoes’ team and forced them to retreat to their fort in Kabba. In the same vein, the group also
With the conquest of Ebiraland, the British quickly consigned it into a district of Kabba Division under the
supervision of O. Howard and Malcolm. The two British officers immediately “recognized” all the Ebira notables
that had conspired with them in the occupation of Ebiraland. They included, understandably, Atta Omadivi, as
the “District “Head” of Ebiraland, and Akpata Ihima, Owudah Adidi and in 1910 Ozigizigi Opoh as “Headmen”
of Ihima, Eika and Obehira respectively.
Resistance to the Establishment of British Administration and Economic Regime
Though the British had conquered Ebira land in 1903 through a naked show of power characterized by brutality
and coercion, by 1916 it was yet to evolve a colonially envisaged centralized political economy in the area.
This
was due to several reasons. The fundamental factor should be located in part in the determination of the Ebira not
to recognize the alien system.
The naked show of power of May 1903 had only engendered social disorderliness
and political disequilibrium in which according to Mr. Greaves, the then Division Officer, (D.O.) each segment
of the social system became suspicious of other segments and of the British invaders. Mr. Greaves captured the
mood of this period when he noted that “not each community, not each district, or town but each family was a law
to itself” (NAK Lokoprof 16).
When Frederick Lugard took charge of colonial affairs in the Northern Provinces in 1900, he formed the West
African Frontier Forces (WAFF) out of the existing constabularies. Various detachments of WAFF were
ultimately engaged in suppressing revolts of the Ebira people.
Thus one detachment of the WAFF was made to
patrol Ebiraland up to the Afanmai area of the present Edo State. In addition, the British constantly sent military
and police escorts either to secure free traffic for its touring officers or to suppress uprisings (NAK, Lokoprof 14).
The presence of such security personnel was abhorred to say the least, and consequently resisted by the people for
some time.
This became significant when the British imposed their alien taxation in 1904 and insisted that such taxes be paid
in British sterling from 1909 (NAK, SN P4636). From then onward, the question of taxation hardened the people
the more to resist British rule.
In other words, the issue of taxation became knitted with resentment necessitating
riots and uprisings against alien occupation. Also the British had used excessive military method to occupy
Ebiraland, they were unable to hold fort.
The methods of Ebira resistance were diverse and knitted in historical
milieu. The various ekura organized themselves independently.
The anti-British elements in each community as
Oganinana, Okengwen, Okene, Eganyi, Utenyi- Ajaokuta identified themselves and came as distinct district
military groups to safeguard their independence. In addition, they constantly raided into enemy lines (i.e British
soldiers).
This was particularly effective during the night. The Ebira anti-British resistance also widely made use
of espionage and spies camouflaged into the British enemy lines and reported what they saw to the main groups.
Well, as time went by, informants of the British mercenaries were able to fish out spies to the invaders.
According to Aviniwa, such spies were uncovered in Eganyi by the British African soldiers stationed in the
market. Such uncovered spies were coerced to disclose the hiding places and modus operandi and vivendi of the
resistance groups.
The abodes of the resistance groups were usually at the hill tops and caves of mountains which
as analysed above characterized the climatic environments and topographical physics of Ebira. However, the
British were convinced invaders and determined conquerors.
In addition, the British had superior weapons,
testable tactics and strategies.
Moreso, their soldiers were better trained and directed by mostly superior and experienced officers who were
employed and paid to do the job.
As in most occupied areas, the British troops, as put succinctly by Ashafa
(2009:61) harassed, demoralized and paralised resistance with the use of artillery firing some shots, particularly at
night.
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Infact just a shot by the British Maxim gun burned cluster of houses at Okeneba, a former capital of Okene
in the 1903 invasion.
The British also had constant supplies of weapons, logistics and support of well-focused and
ambitious local notables. All these secured them success.
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History Of Ebira land
History Of Ebira Tao
It is so hideous, heinous and evil calling for the abolishment of IBEGWU in Igala Land. I hate pretence and deceit more than anything on Earth! Even Christ in His days on Earth never preached for the abolishment of people’s traditions.
Table of Contents
What Is IBEGWU?
IBEGWU does not cover only marriage but also, oversees everything in Ogugu Land! Ibegwu is not wicked and it doesn’t kill anyone who doesn’t go against it! GO AND LEARN YOUR TRADITION BEFORE YOU TALK IN PUBLIC OR, ON SOCIAL MEDIA AGAINST IT TO AVOID ANCESTRAL CURSE.
Don’t say you have no business with it because whoever fucks up must dance surugede dance. You better learn it now!
Now, for clarity, let me mention but few of Ibegwu’s benefits:
Benefits Of Ibegwu Culture In Ogugu
1. It forbids an Ogugu person killing his/her fellow Ogugu person.
2. It forbids a married woman to an Ogugu man from having an illegal affairs with another man, not only sex. Be warned!
3. It prohibits an Ogugu man or woman who has not buried his/her late mother or father to participate directly or indirectly in another person’s father or mother’s burial.
4. It exposes and deals with any person or group of people who come to Ogugu Land to wicked Ogugu sons and daughters through native means.
5. It plays a vital “ancestral watch” over Ogugu Sons and daughters anywhere in the World
6. It forbids an Ogugu man from supporting a woman to do abortion.
7. It forbids an Ogugu man from sucking a woman’s vaginal and I so much believe God forbids same too.
8. It forbids a well married woman from giving money or any aid to her people or outsiders without the prior consent of her husband.
9. It forbids a married woman from giving a prohibited insults to her husband, etc.
10. It doesn’t support medical family planning, etc.
Meanwhile, Ogugu men should be very careful of their wives and women in general. Women especially OGUGU WOMEN who know much about IBEGWU have many deceitful means of communicating their evil deeds to their husbands to free themselves from Ibegwu’s wrath!!!
It is wrong for Ogugu men to neglect the following:
1. Darling I was in a bus today going to work and a Man mistakenly touched my buttocks
2. Mine I was urinating at the back of a building and a passerby just saw my pant when I was struggling to cover my nakedness immediately I noticed a movement
3. Honey one man at my working place always support me whenever management queries me. He is a godly man and I always pray for God’s favour upon him.
4. Sweetheart I mistakenly touched a man’s dick/penis when I was struggling to enter a bus or coming out of the bus today
5. Heartbeat I felt very much ashamed today when I was told that as I fell down my tight was seen by some church members during the prayer session
6. Sugar a bike man fell me today and my pant tore immediately. See it!!! I believed people who came to our rescue must have seen my nakedness.
Note that such things happen but, a married woman is not supposed to tell her husband if she has no ulterior motive!!!
Dr. Ishola Oyenusi, popularly known as Doctor Ishola Oyenusi, was a notorious armed robber who terrorized the people of Lagos and other neighbouring cities in the 1970s. Ishola Oyenusi and his gang of six were highly skilled in snatching cars, robbing banks, factories, stores and killing people like chickens.
Was Ishola Oyenusi Really A Medical Doctor?
Dr Ishola Oyenusi, as he was called, was not a doctor by profession but adopted the title for the fun of it. The evidence lies in a confession he made few minutes before his execution.
He confessed that his parents were not capable of furthering his secondary school education and that was what forced him into robbery. So without having a secondary school education, Oyenusi by no way could have been a medical doctor.
Ishola Oyenusi Story
ishola Oyenusi started off his robbery career by snatching a car (whose owner died in the process) just because his (Ishola Oyenusi) girlfriend needed some money. It was claimed by some sources that Oyenusi was romantic.
He sold the car at the price of N400 and gave the money to his girlfriend. It was also said that Ishola Oyenusi was hot-tempered and quite arrogant. During his arrest, he thundered down on a police officer who was ushering him around. He said, “people like you don’t talk to me like that when I’m armed, I gun them down!”
Doctor Mr. Ishola Oyenusi came into the limelight after the Nigerian civil war ended in 1970. He robbed banks and people in both daylight and night, and he never let any of his victims live to see another day; he killed them all! This earned him the name “Doctor rob and kill“.
At the height of his horrific reign, Mr Ishola Oyenusi bragged that “the bullet has no power“. He probably forgot that he who live by the sword will surely die by the sword.
Who Is Ishola Oyenusi?
Ishola Oyenusi was so infamous that he was regarded by some people as the “first celebrated armed robber in Nigeria“, and after him was Lawrence Anini, Babatunde Folorunsho (Baba oni lace), Shina Rambo, Buraimo Jimoh and others.
Ishola Oyenusi’s Arrest
However, nothing lasts forever, and as the Yoruba adage says, everyday belongs to the thief while a day belongs to the owner.
On the 27th of March, 1971, Oyenusi was nabbed by the police during one of his robbery operations in which he and his notorious gang killed a police constable named Mr. Nwi and stole $28,000 as at then. Cloud of shame hovered above Doctor Ishola Oyenusi as he was casted before the law and found guilty then sentenced to death by firing squad.
Oyenusi confessed that he was not to die alone because he did not commit the crimes alone.
He vomited the names of other members of the gang which included: Joseph Osamedike, Ambrose Nwokobia, Joel Amamieye, Philip Ogbolumain, Ademola Adegbitan and Stephen Ndubuokwu.
Back then, public execution was the order of the day, so when Oyenusi was ushered to the popular Bar Beach in Lagos where he was to be executed, over 30,000 Nigerians were happily and excitedly waiting to see the man who had terrorized them get riddled by hot bullets.
It was said that some civil servants even brought a coffin to the execution ground to mock the once mighty robber kingpin who was now nothing but a scapegoat whose breath would be exhausted in any moment.
Trucks carrying Oyenusi and his executors arrived at the execution ground around 10:am. Doctor Oyenusi, his gang members and one other criminal got down slowly.
People jeered and booed them, especially Oyenusi who they had really trooped out to watch die. Oyenusi donned a dark long-sleeve shirt and had his hands tied behind him.
He was sweating profusely but managed to smile all the way to the stakes. He kept smiling, smiling and smiling but could still not hide the agony and terror written boldly on his face.
Few minutes before he was shot, Oyenusi told journalists that he would not have ventured into armed robbery if his parents were capable of sending him to secondary school.
He also said, “I am dying for the offence I have committed“. Oyenusi and other criminals were fastened to the stakes. The soldiers lined in front of them and aimed their ever-ready guns. Some of the criminals yelled their last words of protest at the cameras. Then a loud voice let out the word “fire”! Oyenusi and other criminals’ bodies were sprayed with bullets.
That was the bitter end of Ishola Oyenusi who lived by the bullets and died by the bullets. The execution of Doctor Ishola Oyenusi sent the streets of Lagos deserted at night. Families locked themselves behind doors for the fear that some of Oyenusi’s boys might retaliate.
That name Ishola Oyenusi will forever be remembered in the history of crime in Nigeria.
Here is the history of Ebira and Igala Relationship, how they hustle to survive and their achievements so far.
Igala were Slave from Old Kwarafanu Then Sold to Junku King around 6th century The Jukun king settled them in Idah around that period, Abutu Eje Founded Igala Kingdom in the 7th Century.
The first ” Ata was Ebulejonu, a woman; she was succeeded by her brother Aganapoje, the father of Idoko. Idoko would later succeed him as Ata, and had two children Atiyele and Ayegba om’Idoko (Ayegba son of Idoko), Atiyele the first son of Idoko migrated eastward of the kingdom to establish Ankpa kingdom ( ÈJÈ of Ankpa) while Ayegba the second son of Idoko succeeded his father as Ata’IGala of Idah. He led a war against the Jukun , which resulted in victory.
Meanwhile Ebira is a Prince Of Junkun of the Kwararafa state north of the Benue River in present-day Taraba State. Ebira relics of trace from Junkun, Kwararafa is the Apete stool, their symbol of authority and identity as a group within the kingdoms of Kwararafa.
They brought along and kept in a place in Opete Till date. their Major occupation is (Warrior, Hunter, Iron Bender, and Farmer ). The Constant Invasion of Igala Kingdom by The then Benin Kings, The Igbo’s and other Kingdom around Make the Atta of Igala Invite a Very Brave Warrior Named Ebira (Positive Character) who came with the Group of his Men From Jukun Kingdom. That was how Ebira migrated to Idah around 1248-1272 AD.
The Ebira are Warriors, Hunter, Iron Bender, and Farmers They came to Make The rise of Igala Kingdom became a mega state. That disrupted and contributed to the shift of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade from the Bight of Benin to the Bight of Biafra.
Also that was decline period of the Benin Empire between the fivteenth centuries. The Idah-Benin war (1515-1516) was a war of mutual independence because Igala was not Alone in the Battle Field This time .
After The war, a Non fulfilments of Promised by Atta Igala to The Ebira Group led to a Land dispute between the two groups in Idah. This led to a parting of ways, and the Ebiras moved southwest.
Ebira and Igala Population
Ebira left Idah After Idah-Benin War Around 1519-1521, They had a stop by at Itobe The Remaining Ebira Group That left Idah are ITAAZI (Ebira tao) IGU (Ebira koto), PANDA (Ebira Nasarawa,) AGATU (Ebira Benue the Father of Ebira MOZUM) that chose to Settled Among Basa and Finally (UNO Ebira Ètè-Uno) who chose to Across the River Benue with ITAAZI.
UNO settled in Present day Edo State. Before Ebira Brothers Separated at Itobe River, They all had Misunderstandings Among them self on where to settled since they are all Brothers with different occupations, IGU who has great passion for fishing decided to settled at the river bank.
While ITAAZI who Married Atta Igala Daughter was a hard working man, He considered fishing a lazy work so he moved southward into the forest Across the River with his wife and started Hunting and farming. He had his first Daughter (Ohunene at the present day Ohunene Junction in Ajaokuta, She later formed Egayin District.
All Members of the various clans in Ebira Tao are descendants of the children of ITAAZI. ITAAZI had five (5) son’s named (Adaviruku/Ohizi, Ododo, Obaji, Uga, Ochuga/Onotu). Ohizi (Adaviruku) had five children who are progenitors of the five traditional Adavi clans named after them. They occupied the present day Ajaokuta, Adavi, Okene, Okegwen, Okehi, Ehika, Ihima, Osara, Osisi Among Others.
Most Ebira tao Clan is associated with Great Animals they Killed during Era of Hunting. During the conquest of Hausaland by the armies of The religious and Political leader Uthman Dan Fodio, 1786-1809 Ebiras came under a state of conflict with Fulani warlords to the north and west.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, two major communities, Igu (Koton Large) as it was called by Hausa, it means strong land because they fought to conquest them but never succeed and were not conquered Ebira was never Conquered by Any Kingdom.
Between 1865 and 1880, Ebira battled under the leadership of a warlord, Achigidi Okino with jihadists called Ajinomoh who were from Bida and Ilorin. However, the Ebiras were not conquered by the Fulanis helped in part by security provided by their hilly environment.
Before Ebira left Idah The Igala Kingdom influenced and has been influenced by the Ebira, Yoruba, Edo, Idoma. Igala already copy part of Ebira language while sojourning in Idah and also have Lingual mixed with Yoruba and Igbos because of inter language communication during Translactic Slave Trade. Ebira are the warrior that help Igala Kingdom when Igala was paying Homage to old Benin empire and Junkun, Ebira warriors Help Igalas Conquered Many of the northern Igbo state.
Most Northern Igbo settlements have lineages with Igala names, cultural practices with marked Igala modification and adaptations. The use of Igala circular basket in contrast to the Ibo rectangular types persists till this day. By the turn of the 18th century, After Ebira have helped The Igalas, the Igala empire was too large for any reliable and robust central control.
After The Ebira left, The religious Jihadist started contracting the Igala imperial power, conquering Igala territories in the north around 1768 -1785.
Bassa-Igala war added more pressure to Already war-weary Igala empire and The abolition of slave trade brought in untold economic recession to Igalas Land, In 1914 the British burnt down Ibagwa and Obukpa as a punitive measure.
Ebira and Igala
By the 1920s, Igala empire was a spent force and a limping shadow, the British easily took over control of both Nsụka and the Igala territories.
Igala Language is 60% Yoruba and 40% Igbo, Benin, Ebira, and Idoma. After the Abolish of Slave Trade, Atta Igala wrote Series of Latter to the British to Continue the Slave Trade, Then Haiti Already Declared an Independent State.
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