Located in the geographical center of
Nigeria, exists a landlocked area
surrounded by Kogi, Kaduna,
Nassarawa and Niger state called
Abuja . In Abuja dwelled the Gbagyi
people before the then military
government came up with a brilliant
idea. This brilliant idea made the
Gbagyis give up their lands.
In 1976, the then military government
under General Murtala Mohammed
came up with a brilliant plan to look
for an area where none of the major
tribes of Nigeria (Igbo, Yoruba and
Hausa ) occupied (or where a lesser
tribe resided) in the geographic centre
of the nation, which no one could
make a case for, and a territory in
which Nigerians could join under and
then Abuja was chosen.
But the thing here is, Abuja wasn't a
“no man's land”. Abuja, a
geographical area surrounded by Kogi,
Kaduna, Nassarawa and Niger state.
Was the dwelling place for the Gbagyi
people most times called “Gwari” .
The military government knew this
fact that the geographical area which
has been planned to be the new
capital city of Nigeria housed a small
ethnic group. Since the Gbagyi people
were few, the military government
underestimated them and drove them
away to make way for plans they had
for the geographical area. This act led
to the displacement of the Gbagyi
people, few of the Gbagyis stayed in
transit camps for some time before
looking for a new location to settle
down. The military government also
made a plan to compensate the
Gbagyi people for giving up their land
to become capital of Nigeria, but as
usual, the tight fists of corruption
made sure compensations never left
it's hands to the “weak” hands of the
Agbagyi(plural of Gbagyi).
Seconds rolled into minutes, minutes
into hours, hours into days, days into
months, months into years and it's
exactly twenty-seven (27) years since
the ethnic group were chased out of
their lands and they still feel betrayed,
cheated and deprived of their heritage.
Anyways, i wrote this to “sing with my
pen" the rich history and culture of the
Gbagyi people. I took a trip to some
parts of Abuja / Niger state dominated
by the Gbagyi people to know more
about them. I will share the story and
experience of this trip in this article.

Brief History Of The

Gbagyi Tribe
The Gbagyi (most times called Gwari
or Gbari) are known to be peaceful (a
saying in Hausa language says “muyi
shi Gwari Gwari” which when
translated to English means “let’s do
it like the Gbagyi” or “in the Gbagyi
way”. Proving their love for peace),
transparent, artistic and agriculturists
who dwell in the North-Central geo-
political zone of Nigeria.
The word "Gwari" is a name of a
popular yam grown by the Gbagyi
people of Abuja.
It is claimed that the Gbagyi people
migrated from Borno to reside in
Abuja due to the series of clash and
disagreement with the Kanuri people.
Also, most people (mostly
researchers) feels the Gbagyi
originated from Egypt due to their
habitual acquaintance with the lapis
lazuli stone.
The first dweller in Abuja was a hunter
who went to hunt in a land called
Paikokun, a thick forest in Abuja. He
inhabited in Paikokun mountains
because he believed it was safe.
At first, the Gbagyi people dwelled on
mountain tops because of the same
reason their ancestor dwelled there.
Later on after the westerners came
with their sweetened wine called
“civilisation” the Gbagyis left the top
of mountains to dwell at the bottom.
In the year 1890, the Gbagyi
community migrated from the foot of
the mountains to their present
settlement. As time grew, the
population of the Gbagyis dwelling in
Abuja grew, this lead to the Suleja
Emirate creating three districts which
form part of the six local government
councils in Abuja, these three districts
are called Bwari, Kuje and Kwali. In
these districts now known as local
governments you can find indigenous
Gbagyi people.
There are two main groups of the
Gbagyi people. The eastern and the
western group. The former are called
Gbagyi-Ngenge or Gbagyi-Matai and
they are more dense in population
than the later. The later are called
Gbagyi-Nkwa or Gbagyi-Yamma. The
two groups speak different languages,
and within them exists sub-groups
and dialects.

The Gbagyi Religion

The Gbagyi main traditional religion is
called Knunu. They worship a god
called Shekwoi , which they believe
shields them from the evil that exist in
the community. They also worship
other gods like maigro, etc
The Agbagyi (Gbagyi people) serves
their god by offering fowl and beer as
a sacrifice to a special tree found
deep in the forest ( called kurmi).
After the Fulani Jihad initiated by
Usman Dan Fodio, most Gbagyi
people (Agbagyi) were converted to
Islam without choice, the Jihad made
sure they had only two options which
were be Muslim or be dead.
Years later Christianity came into the
Gbagyi land through SIM (Sudan
Interior Mission also known as
Evangelical Church of Africa).
Most Gbagyi couldn't bear the
restrictions Christianity brought so
they stocked to Islam since some it's
practices where like that of their
traditional religion. Practises like
polygamy, amulets and so on.
The Gbagyi Festivals
The Agbagyi (Gbagyi people) have to
main festivals namely:
•The Zhibaje Festival and the
•The Agbamaya Festival
The Gbagyi people (Agbagyi)
celebrates the Zhibaje Festival during
the Christmas period. While the
Agbamaya festival is celebrated by
the Gbagyi people during the
beginning of rainy season to welcome
the rain.
Read all here

Wow! Thanks OP. This is very edducative unlike threads on one Cownu. Thanks for sharing.

Bholutife18:
Wow! Thanks OP. This is very edducative unlike threads on one Cownu.
Thanks for sharing.

You are welcome. Thanks for appreciating.

Very interesting. Thank you for the information.

AtaniWarrior:
Very interesting. Thank you for the information.

You are welcome. Thanks

Thank you. No history for secondary school students again na

Nice one.

I lived in a gbagi Christian community during My NYSC.
You didn't highlight their tradition of carrying loads on their back and not the head unlike other tribes. Although this is phasing out among the younger generation

Isaac93:


You are welcome. Thanks

No problem. I’m actually very interested in learning more about the groups in Central Nigeria.