The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. Ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, as migrants as well as outside Africa. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Igbo people, which are largely unknown. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
Arochukwu Local Government Area, sometimes referred to as Arochuku or Aro Oke-Igbo, is the third largest local government area in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people.
Ekpe, also known as Mgbe/Egbo, is a West African secret society in Nigeria and Cameroon flourishing chiefly among the Efiks. It is also found among a number of other ethnic groups, including the Bahumono of the Cross River State, the Ibibio, the Uruan and the Oron of Akwa Ibom State, Arochukwu and some other parts of Abia State, as well as in the diaspora, such as in Cuba and Brazil. The society is still active at the beginning of the 21st century, now playing more of a ceremonial role.
Igboland, also known as Southeastern Nigeria, is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided into two sections by the lower Niger River: an eastern and a western one. Its population is characterised by the diverse Igbo culture and the speakers of equally diverse Igbo languages.
The Aro Confederacy (1640–1902) was a political union orchestrated by the Aro people, an Igbo subgroup, centered in Arochukwu in present-day southeastern Nigeria. The Aro Confederacy kingdom was founded after the beginning of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Their influence and presence was all over Eastern Nigeria, lower Middle Belt, and parts of present-day Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arochukwu Kingdom was an economic, political, and an oracular center as it was home of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle, High Priests, the Aro King Eze Aro, and central council (Okpankpo). The Aro Confederacy was a powerful and influential political and economic alliance of various Igbo-speaking communities in southeastern Nigeria. It emerged during the 17th century and played a significant role in the region until the late 19th century.
The Ibom Isi also known as the Akpa are one of the three main lineages comprising the Aro people. They are centered in Ibom, Arochukwu in Nigeria. The Akpa are descendants of the Ejagham in present day Cross River State in Southeastern Nigeria.
The Anglo-Aro War (1901–1902) was a conflict between the Aro Confederacy in present-day Eastern Nigeria, and the British Empire. The war began after increasing tension between Aro leaders and the British after years of failed negotiations.
The Aro-Ibibio Wars were a series of conflicts between the Aro people and the Ibibio in present-day Southeastern Nigeria in the Ibom Kingdom from 1630 to 1902. These wars led to the foundation of the Arochukwu kingdom.
Nnachi Ipia mononymously known as Nnachi, was one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, one of the largest villages in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. During the conclusion of the 17th century, he was a Dibia (priest-doctor) from the Edda people near Afikpo. The Eze Agwu clan led by his relative King Agwu Inobia in the Aro region called on Nnachi for help during the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Unable to break the stalemate in the favor of Eze Agwu, Nnachi called some allies from the east of the Cross River known as the Akpa people. Akuma and Osim Nnubi led the Akpa people into the Aro region and collaborated with Igbo forces to defeat the Obong Okon Ita kingdom. Though Osim died, Akuma survived and became the first EzeAro. After his death, Nnachi's descendants took over the throne starting with his son, Oke Nnachi. They are currently the ruling clan of the Aro people.
Osim and Akuma Nnubi were brothers and merchant princes of the Akpa people from the east of the Cross River in the late 17th century. The Akpa people were trading allies with the Eze Agwu and Nnachi clans of the Igbo. When Nnachi called them to assist the Igbos in the Aro-Ibibio Wars, they answered. Leading their people, they allied with the Igbo groups to defeat the Ibibio. Osim died and his brother Akuma became the new Arochukwu kingdom's first EzeAro or king.
Aro History starts from Ibibio migration to the present Arochukwu area.
Nsibidi is a system of symbols or proto-writing developed by the Ekpe secret society that traversed the southeastern part of Nigeria. They are classified as pictograms, though there have been suggestions that some are logograms or syllabograms.
The history of the territories which since ca. 1900 have been known under the name of Nigeria during the pre-colonial period was dominated by several powerful West African kingdoms or empires, such as the Oyo Empire and the Islamic Kanem-Bornu Empire in the northeast, and the Igbo kingdom of Onitsha in the southeast and various Hausa-Fulani kingdoms.
Abiriba pronounced [/E`biriba`/] is an ancient Enuda kingdom in Abia State, in southeastern Nigeria, traditionally an Igbo speaking region. It is in the Ohafia local government area.
Ekoi people, also known as Ejagham, are an ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria and extending eastward into the southwest region of Cameroon. They speak the Ejagham language. Other Ekoi languages are spoken by related groups, including the Etung, some groups in Ikom, some groups in Ogoja, Ufia, and Yakö. The Ekoi have lived closely with the nearby Efik, Annang, Ibibio, and Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. The Ekoi are best known for their Ekpe headdresses and the Nsibidi script. The Ejagham likely are the creators of the Nsibidi ideograms and still use them as a part of tradition.
Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu was one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, the third largest city in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. He was a blacksmith and leader of his clan. Eze Agwu is said to be the descendant of Nna Uru. Nna Uru was related to the founders of neighboring communities Abiriba and Edda people. Edda and Abiriba traditions state that their ancestors founded Arochukwu.
Obinkita is one of 19 villages of Arochukwu. It was the capital of the Ibibio kingdom of Ibom before its conquest by Igbo and Akpa invaders in 1690–1720. This town is significant in Aro History because Obinkita became the center where defeated Ibibio warriors were judged. This is why all Aro villages assemble at Obinkita during the Ikeji festival.
The Ibom or Mbot Abasi Kingdom was a kingdom by the Ibibio people with its seat of government in Obot Okon Ita. The Mbot Abasi kingdom was located in present day Arochukwu, Abia State in Nigeria. Around 1630, a group of Igbo from Abiriba known as the Eze Agwu arrived in Ibom. This caused long term conflict and a stalemate known as the Aro-Ibibio Wars.
The Ibini Ukpabi was an oracle of the Aro Confederacy of what is now south eastern Nigeria. It was known among the British as the 'Long Ju-ju'. Ibini Ukpabi was used to settle cases, particularly those of murder, witchcraft, poisoning and family disputes. The oracle was paramount throughout the Niger Delta; the losing party of a case was traditionally destroyed by the oracle, but the priests of Ibini Ukpabi developed a preference in selling the losing party into slavery instead. As the system continued, it was alleged that the priests of Ibini Ukpabi falsified some of the verdicts of the oracle in order to procure victims to be sold into slavery. Hundreds of people visited Ibini Ukpabi and many did not return; their communities usually believed that the oracle had devoured anybody that visited it.
Nkporo is a town in Abia State, in southeastern Nigeria, traditionally an Igbo speaking region. It is in the Ohafia Local Government Area.
