Re posting it since the first got taken down
According to Dr. Afigbo, the Igala kingdom probably became the dominant power in the Anambra Valley and Nsukka in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Aku was the most southerly of the towns where the Igalas built forts. It is to be expected that from Aku, the Igalas foraged into other towns, and villages surrounding Aku for slaves and tributes. Aku must have been a sort of collecting centre or capital for the southern areas under Igala rule. Igala rule must have been established in Aku at a later date than other areas in Nsukka. It then follows that the Igalas must have lost hold of Aku earlier than other areas, it being the, farthest from the centre of power at IdahAku tradition has it that Diewa was an Igala Officer sent to rule Aku by the Attah of Igala. That is why Aku is called Aku Diewa. It was pointed out above that Nsukka is called Nsukka Asadu because Asadu ruled over her. On the other hand, although Nkpologu was under Asabero, she answered Nkpologu Attah because Nkpologu claims direct descent from the Attah. Umu-Ezike, a village in Aku answers Umu-Ezike Attah because their great grandfather, Ezike, came from Igala. Thus Nkpologu and Umu-Ezike claim to have blood relationship.

Aku people did not accept the rule of the Igalas and fought relentlessly against it until Diewa defected from the Attah, married an Aku woman and lived in Aku until his death. He has three sons and many daughters. His descendants form the bulk of Ohemje village. Diewa is worshipped as one of the heroes in Aku History.





It would appear that after the defection of Diewa, the bulk of the Igala occupation force remained loyal to the Attah and continued to live in the forts on the two hills. Aku elders remember two dramatic incidents in connection with Igala occupation. Both incidents concerned the tail end of their stay in Aku.During their struggle against the Igalas, Aku people succeeded in cutting off their line of communication with Idah. They then surrounded the forts and made sure that no more food was sent to the Igala soldiers. One day, during the Ama­ Oshigo feast, the area allotted to Oshigo people to guard was deserted because the young men from Oshigo could not bear to stay away from the feast, especially as the noise of drumming, singing, and dancing wafted up towards them from the valley below and as the gods would be against them if they fought during their Ama feast.

They quietly stole down the hill to their village. Igala soldiers observed their movement and carefully trailed them, armed to the teeth. While the people of Uwani Ezike in Oshigo were eating and drinking, they were suddenly attacked. Everybody, men, women and children of Uwani-Ezike was killed except a baby of a few days old. This baby, Ezukwugwu Ocha survived because just before its mother was killed, she had succeeded in hiding it among some leaves in the forest nearby. A relative from Ugwunani picked the child up, cared for him and he survived to become the father of many sons and great grandfather of the present Uwani-Ezike.Igala soldiers then carried to their fort whatever they could lay their hands on – water, food and wine. Before the news of what happened had got to other Aku people, Igala soldiers had once again taken refuge in their fortified city. It was clear to them they could not last indefinitely, so one dark night, they decided to leave finally. When they reached a lake at Odoko in Nua, they were attacked by Aku people. In trying to escape, many of them perished in the lake. The name of the lake was immediately changed to Omeru Igala, (The destroyer of Igala). No lake now exists there but the place is still called Omeru Igala.



The now greatly depleted force retreated to the fort, and from there moved down the hill to Nkponkpo and through Uwelu Amabokwu to Amogbo. At Amogbo, Aku troops once again attacked them. The writer has not succeeded in getting any details about this engagement. What is important is that the battle at Amogbo marked the end of Igala occupation of Aku.



No one has an idea how long the occupation lasted. In the opinion of the writer, it must have been short-lived because it brought little or no changes in Aku political, and cultural systems. Dr. Afigbo, in the paper already referred to, was of the opinion that the principal aim for Igala penetration of the Anambra and Nsukka areas was to obtain slaves, in which case the type of relationship conducive to cultural borrowing from the conquerors would hardly exist. The writer is not aware of any single Aku custom or way of life that could be traced back to the Igalas. The only Igala name that survives in Aku is the word Attah.

https://akudiewa.org/site/index.php/a-short-political-history-of-aku-before-the-establishment-of-british-rule/