₦airaland Forum

THE EKUMEKU RESISTANCE
THE EKUMEKU One of the Reasons The British Hates the Igbos!
The British-Igbo War That Lasted For 31 YEARS:

The resolutions of the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, gave European nations the rights to lay claim to lands and resources in Africa.

Britain, who had engaged in the trade with coastal cities before and during the 19th century, made bold their intentions to covet resources and rule over indigenous nations all over Africa. Tribes resisted the British invaders, and this led to protracted wars. Many African tribes put up a great fight against the superior fire power of the suppressive British.

One of such tribes are the Igbo people of ancient Biafra, who are now one of the three major tribes in Nigeria.

The Ekuemeku Movement was the name of Igbo army, that held the British at bay and fought them for 31 years.

The Ekumeku movement consisted of a great number of attacks and uprising by the Anioma people of land, against the British, from 1893-1914.

The Ekumeku warriors were bound by a secrete oath, and meticulously utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British Royal company, who were determined to penetrate Igbo land. The Ekumeku warriors were drawn from thousands of Anioma youth from all parts of Anioma land.

As the war rages on, the Ekumeku warriors defended their rights tom live peacefully without foreign interjection, while the British used heavy armaments. They destroyed homes, farms, and roads, by bombardment.

The British invaded Ndoni in 1870 and bombarded Onicha-Ado (Onicha) on November 2nd, 1897, from River Niger. This set the tempo for the rest of the war. The Royal Niger Company was commanded by Major Festing. They engaged the Anioma people of Ibusa in 1898.

The battle was so severe in 0wa/Okwunzu, in 1904, that the commander W.E.B Crawford requested for more arms from the British headquarters to crush the Western Anioma communities. The people of Owa again in 1906 engaged the British in a gruesome battle that consumed the life of the British commander S. O. Crewe.

Ogwashi-Ukwu faced the British on the 2nd of November 1909, and dealt a heavy blow to the British, who sustained many casualties, with the death of H. C. Chapman.

The Ekumeku became a formidable force in Igbo land and was a great source of nationalism for the Anioma people. It also served as a uniting cord that held together various towns who were independent of each other in the past. The Igbo were a republican people and each town had a leadership that was drawn from its oldest of men and families.

The war would have lasted longer, and possibly ended in a British defeat, if the Anioma people had equivalent fire power, and had more allies from other great Igbo kingdoms and towns. But even at that point, other tribes were facing the British on their own.

After almost 20 years of battle, decided to strike with great force. And in December of 1902, they sent a powerful expedition to Anioma kingdom. A great number of towns were destroyed. Civilians and soldiers alike were killed. And their leaders were arrested and imprisoned.

After this, the British were sure that they had suppressed the Ekumeku military cult, and that victory was theirs. The British officers boasted: “the Ekumeku and other secret societies have been completely broken.”

To their greatest surprise, two years later, in 1904, the fearless Ekumeku rose again. The Igbo are a proud and egalitarian people. They don’t go down that easily.

When the Ekumeku started their renewed campaign, they changed tactics, and abandoned the guerrilla warfare style of 1989, for individual defense of each town.

The last battle began in 1909. There was a succession dispute in Ogwashi-ukwu, and the British tried to remove the rightful king and enthrone someone else. One of the heirs to the throne, Nzekwe, the son of the last Obi, sensed the plot of the British and went to war with them to fight for his inheritance.

On November 2nd 1909, the British sent an expedition to Ogwashi-ukwu to capture him, but they failed. No amount of fire power at that point could defeat or quench the sympathy and dedication of the people towards the Ekumeku. In Asaba, the sympathy for the Ekumeku was so high that the people had a disposition to throw off the already British government in certain parts.

At the time, the acting Lieutenant-governor of the Southern provinces sent an agitated telegram to Lagos. It read: “Whole country is above are… is the state of rebellion.”

After this, reinforcements were sent from Lokoja, for another confrontation at Akegbe. The war raged on, till 1914, when the Ekumeku movement was defeated. That was the same year, the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria were joined as one country.

Some of the heroes of that 31-year war included Dunwku Isus of Onicha-Olona, Nwabuzo Iyogolo of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Awuno Ugbo, Obi of Akumazi, Aggbambu Oshue of Igbuzo, the Idabor of Issele-Ukwu, Ochei Aghaeze of Onicha-olona, Abuzu of Idumuje-Unor, Idegwu Otokpoike of Ubulu-Ukwu. These men are remembered in Anioma land till date.

The Ekumeku war remains one of most bravely fought wars and campaign against British rule and plundering. It later inspired other rebellions around Africa, such as the Mau Mau of Kenya.

The Ekumeku have long been defeated, and that kingdom is now part of the greater Igbo land, in today’s Nigeria. But no matter how far we travel in time, history always remembers that a brave tribe defended their ancestry, heritage and legacy against the tyranny of Wilberforce.

Till date, in Nigeria, the Igbo remains one of the few tribes that still resist British rule over them and their resources. It can be said that these sentiments were at play when the British supplied weapons to the Hausa Fulanis in the Northern part and the Yorubas in the Western part of Nigeria to fight and kill the Igbos during the Nigeria Biafra War between 1967-1970 .

BRITISH EV!LS AND ATROCITIES AGAINST IGBOS ARE UNCOUNTABLE!!!

Hmm

The igbos proved to be the greatest resistance to the British in Nigeria

We can never forget the Ekumekwu.

My Anioma people. Where una dey?
Children of warriors where una dey?

One useless Fake Historian was telling us how Igbo became their slaves..What a lie from the pit of hell! Igbo people were sold into slavery by Igbo slave Merchants from Aro down to Bonny..No tribe ever owned Igbo slaves captured by Aro people

I'm not Igbo but I sincerly respect the Igbo spirit,most igbos goes from nothing and become rich.
I think why the British couldn't conquer the igbos easily is that igbos naturally bows to no one and most of their villages then has no king so the British have to conquer them village to village.
After finally conquering them,they hated them because of the stress the British pass through.
But some other tribe because of their cowardice begged them to come and rule over them,that they are ready to be their slaves.

Liebermantic:
One useless Fake Historian was telling us how Igbo became their slaves..What a lie from the pit of hell! Igbo people were sold into slavery by Igbo slave Merchants from Aro down to Bonny..No tribe ever owned Igbo slaves captured by Aro people

WRONG, THE OBA OF BINI AND OBONG OF CALABAR, WERE CONDUCTING SLAVE RAIDS FOR THE PORTUGESE AND BRITISH.

IT WAS FROM THE OBONG OF CALABAR THAT AROCHUKWU SPRANG UP AND KALABARI BECAME THE NEW CALABAR.


ALOT OF SS TRIBE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE, WHICH FEATURED PREDOMINANTLY IGBOS.


IGBOS WERE SOLD VIA PORT OF WARRI, PORT OF BONNY AND PORT OF CALABAR.

topboss:
WRONG, THE OBA OF BINI AND OBONG OF CALABAR, WERE CONDUCTING SLAVE RAIDS FOR THE PORTUGESE AND BRITISH.

IT WAS FROM THE OBONG OF CALABAR THAT AROCHUKWU SPRANG UP AND KALABARI BECAME THE NEW CALABAR.


ALOT OF SS TRIBE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE, WHICH FEATURED PREDOMINANTLY IGBOS.


IGBOS WERE SOLD VIA PORT OF WARRI, PORT OF BONNY AND PORT OF CALABAR.

Don’t mind those Ipobian Mumurist, I wonder what they purport to gain by twisting history?

Same way 70 years from today, their descendants will deny the fact that their ancestors were begging other Nigerians tribes to make way & allow them become President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria?

topboss:
WRONG, THE OBA OF BINI AND OBONG OF CALABAR, WERE CONDUCTING SLAVE RAIDS FOR THE PORTUGESE AND BRITISH.

IT WAS FROM THE OBONG OF CALABAR THAT AROCHUKWU SPRANG UP AND KALABARI BECAME THE NEW CALABAR.


ALOT OF SS TRIBE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE, WHICH FEATURED PREDOMINANTLY IGBOS.


IGBOS WERE SOLD VIA PORT OF WARRI, PORT OF BONNY AND PORT OF CALABAR.

Sorry Igbo is not Yoruba that Minorities like Nupe, Fon, Bini and FULANI around took turns raiding for slaves.

Unlike Yoruba land where it was a hunt, Slave trade was an established market with rules in Igboland.

Thank you

Investigative:
only in Igbo land British system of government failed
Igbo have always resist government and can't bow
Till now they are the strongest opposition in Nigeria

In 1909, coal was discovered in Enugu, Nigeria by a British mines engineer Albert Kitson.

The Ogbete drift mine opened six years later, the Ogbete mine's operations and others in the country were merged into a new corporation in 1950: The Nigerian Coal Corporation forty one years after.

Where was the so called igbo resistance?

The same Igbos sold as slaves by the benin

adamsmith914:
In 1909, coal was discovered in Enugu, Nigeria by the British Government, The Ogbete drift mine opened six years later.

The Ogbete mine's operations and others in the country were merged into a new corporation in 1950: The Nigerian Coal Corporation.

Where was the so called igbo resistance?

Ask about iva valley protest concerning coal miner and British
I know you don't have retentive memory
You will still argue this after today
Again discovering of coal helped develop Enugu and porthacourt so we saw no reason to resist until they start treating native workers as rag
we have been fighting Britain even before your grandfather was born

BKayy:
Sorry Igbo is not Yoruba that Minorities like Nupe, Fon, Bini and FULANI around took turns raiding for slaves.

Unlike Yoruba land where it was a hunt, Slave trade was an established market with rules in Igboland.

Thank you

This one want to change the narrative, well you are Igbo man, I am not surprised

headSmasher:
The same Igbos sold as slaves by the benin

You people are just looking for companions in the "sold as slaves by others" bus but wishes can never be horses.

Bini only sold Yorubas and Itsekiri.

Nupe sold Yorubas and even installed themselves as Alaafin.

Fulani later continued from there during transatlantic slave trade, installing an existing Seriki Fulani in Lagos coast.

Don't assume that our history is the same as yours

Investigative:
Ask about iva valley protest concerning coal miner and British
I know you don't have retentive memory
You will still argue this after today
Again discovering of coal helped develop Enugu and porthacourt so we saw no reason to resist until they start treating native workers as rag

Egotistical Mumus because igbos were the only tribe in Nigeria that resisted the British?

Go & read about Ovonramwen Nogbaisi of the great Bini Empire & what he did to the British forces to get more knowledge for you useless pompous naive myopic tribalistic maniacs.

headSmasher:
This one want to change the narrative, well you are Igbo man, I am not surprised

Very soon you will crop your own post and use it as reference. That's how desperate you people are to have companions as domestic slaves.

Reno Omokri utterances is not a source. The utterances that he couldn't defend when challenged by Ogbonnaya Okoro

headSmasher:
This one want to change the narrative, well you are Igbo man, I am not surprised

Quoting Reno omokiri that doesn't know his own history
Reno omokiri father till when he was buried don't know where he came from

Investigative:
Quoting Reno omokiri that doesn't know his own history
Reno omokiri father till when he was buried don't know where he came from

You investigative that is still investigating which part of Igala land your ancestors migrated to Enugu from is opening their naive mouth?

BKayy:
You people are just looking for companions in the "sold as slaves by others" bus but wishes can never be horses.

Bini only sold Yorubas and Itsekiri.

Nupe sold Yorubas and even installed themselves as Alaafin.

Fulani later continued from there during transatlantic slave trade, installing an existing Seriki Fulani in Lagos coast.

Don't assume that our history is the same as yours

What is this one saying, can you even listen yourself, the child of oranmiyan, eweka that is a grand son of oduduwa sold other oduduwa sons as slave, Ooooooh you must be under the influence of mkpurumiri

BKayy:
You people are just looking for companions in the "sold as slaves by others" bus but wishes can never be horses.

Bini only sold Yorubas and Itsekiri.

Nupe sold Yorubas and even installed themselves as Alaafin.

Fulani later continued from there during transatlantic slave trade, installing an existing Seriki Fulani in Lagos coast.

Don't assume that our history is the same as yours

It is a fact of history that igbos the interior people of the forest of Arochukwu, were sold by the waterside people, The real Biafrans Efiks, Ibibios, Ijaws, Kalabaris & others as slaves.

Investigative:
only in Igbo land British system of government failed
Igbo have always resist government and can't bow
Till now they are the strongest opposition in Nigeria

Igbos were loyal to the British, they follow British laws, religion and dressing than most Nigeria tribes

SlyDev:
Igbos were loyal to the British, they follow British laws, religion and dressing than most Nigeria tribes

No be Lord Frederick Lugard give them Ezes & Warrant Chiefs?

BKayy:
Sorry Igbo is not Yoruba that Minorities like Nupe, Fon, Bini and FULANI around took turns raiding for slaves.

Unlike Yoruba land where it was a hunt, Slave trade was an established market with rules in Igboland.

Thank you

You have been cursed to lie, i have not yet seen what you lying goats can't twist. You are so ashamed of the history of your ancestors that all you do is twist the narratives for self consolation. You can imagine this dimwit saying Slavery is an established market. Imagine this fool glorifying slavery whereby his ancestors were degraded like animals, beaten in chains with forced labor in a white man's plantations and his great grandmothers used as a submissive sex slave. Just because you want to cheastbeat, say anything stupid to grandstand. You're a fool.

adamsmith914:
No be Lord Frederick Lugard give them Ezes & Warrant Chiefs?

According to British colonial master, igbo are loyal to the Queen and England and follow instructions with little or no resistance

SlyDev:
Igbos were loyal to the British, they follow British laws, religion and dressing than most Nigeria tribes

Mumu don't know what is selective development
Igbo pick British culture that aid development

Pakute:
You have been cursed to lie, i have not yet seen what you lying goats can't twist. You are so ashamed of the history of your ancestors that all you do is twist the narratives for self consolation. You can imagine this dimwit saying Slavery is an established market. Imagine this fool glorifying slavery whereby his ancestors were degraded like animals, beaten in chains with forced labor in a white man's plantations and his great grandmothers used as a submissive sex slave. Just because you want to cheastbeat, say anything stupid to grandstand. You're a fool.

LOL.
Only a particular group in Nigeria fell victim to both trans Saharan slave trade and trans Atlantic slave trade. That group is YORUBA.
Unlike others that controlled the flow of the unfortunate slaves through their region, Yorubas have no say in what happens through theirs.

Trans Saharan was controlled by Nupe who hunted Yorubas like the rats they are to sell to Kano. At Kano, the Yorubas became the favourite slaves for their Hausa masters because of Yorubas submissive nature (something that can be seen in them today)

For trans Atlantic, Yoruba land was just a hunting ground where you sell as much as you can capture. No resistance, Nothing. The captured were so docile that they don't need to be chained.
Their docile nature, though liked by the enslavers cost Yoruba Slaves their worth, unlike other places where slaves are costly, Badagry was noted for their cheap slaves. Yorubas are exchanged for as little as a dried gin for ten slaves, 20 young women for an umbrella and 10 women for snuff powder

I would have loved to respond to your sex allegations but no need. Though it is false, I can't return the favour to Yoruba women because no reasonable organism apart from Yoruba men will think of having sex with them because of their hideous look. Their ugliness is their major saving grace from all sexual related atrocities.

By the way take a look at some of the Yorubas sold as rats celebrating their enslaver Seriki of Badagry.

adamsmith914:
It is a fact of history that igbos the interior people of the forest of Arochukwu, were sold by the waterside people, The real Biafrans Efiks, Ibibios, Ijaws, Kalabaris & others as slaves.

You mean the people that said this below?
This is what they told the whites

"Before the coming of the Europeans, we always looked upon Aro as white-man-like, because from the beginning they were more brainy and cultured"

Has anybody said the same for Yáribas, ehm sorry Yorubas?
You even near the slave name (Yoruba) conferred on you lower species by your Hausa-Fulani masters. A remnant of your past pathetic history as choice of slaves for Hausa Kingdoms then Fulani Caliphate.

Read what those you are putting fake stories into their mouth have to say about Aro

EmmaJnr1:
THE EKUMEKU RESISTANCE
THE EKUMEKU One of the Reasons The British Hates the Igbos!
The British-Igbo War That Lasted For 31 YEARS:

The resolutions of the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, gave European nations the rights to lay claim to lands and resources in Africa.

Britain, who had engaged in the trade with coastal cities before and during the 19th century, made bold their intentions to covet resources and rule over indigenous nations all over Africa. Tribes resisted the British invaders, and this led to protracted wars. Many African tribes put up a great fight against the superior fire power of the suppressive British.

One of such tribes are the Igbo people of ancient Biafra, who are now one of the three major tribes in Nigeria.

The Ekuemeku Movement was the name of Igbo army, that held the British at bay and fought them for 31 years.

The Ekumeku movement consisted of a great number of attacks and uprising by the Anioma people of land, against the British, from 1893-1914.

The Ekumeku warriors were bound by a secrete oath, and meticulously utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British Royal company, who were determined to penetrate Igbo land. The Ekumeku warriors were drawn from thousands of Anioma youth from all parts of Anioma land.

As the war rages on, the Ekumeku warriors defended their rights tom live peacefully without foreign interjection, while the British used heavy armaments. They destroyed homes, farms, and roads, by bombardment.

The British invaded Ndoni in 1870 and bombarded Onicha-Ado (Onicha) on November 2nd, 1897, from River Niger. This set the tempo for the rest of the war. The Royal Niger Company was commanded by Major Festing. They engaged the Anioma people of Ibusa in 1898.

The battle was so severe in 0wa/Okwunzu, in 1904, that the commander W.E.B Crawford requested for more arms from the British headquarters to crush the Western Anioma communities. The people of Owa again in 1906 engaged the British in a gruesome battle that consumed the life of the British commander S. O. Crewe.

Ogwashi-Ukwu faced the British on the 2nd of November 1909, and dealt a heavy blow to the British, who sustained many casualties, with the death of H. C. Chapman.

The Ekumeku became a formidable force in Igbo land and was a great source of nationalism for the Anioma people. It also served as a uniting cord that held together various towns who were independent of each other in the past. The Igbo were a republican people and each town had a leadership that was drawn from its oldest of men and families.

The war would have lasted longer, and possibly ended in a British defeat, if the Anioma people had equivalent fire power, and had more allies from other great Igbo kingdoms and towns. But even at that point, other tribes were facing the British on their own.

After almost 20 years of battle, decided to strike with great force. And in December of 1902, they sent a powerful expedition to Anioma kingdom. A great number of towns were destroyed. Civilians and soldiers alike were killed. And their leaders were arrested and imprisoned.

After this, the British were sure that they had suppressed the Ekumeku military cult, and that victory was theirs. The British officers boasted: “the Ekumeku and other secret societies have been completely broken.”

To their greatest surprise, two years later, in 1904, the fearless Ekumeku rose again. The Igbo are a proud and egalitarian people. They don’t go down that easily.

When the Ekumeku started their renewed campaign, they changed tactics, and abandoned the guerrilla warfare style of 1989, for individual defense of each town.

The last battle began in 1909. There was a succession dispute in Ogwashi-ukwu, and the British tried to remove the rightful king and enthrone someone else. One of the heirs to the throne, Nzekwe, the son of the last Obi, sensed the plot of the British and went to war with them to fight for his inheritance.

On November 2nd 1909, the British sent an expedition to Ogwashi-ukwu to capture him, but they failed. No amount of fire power at that point could defeat or quench the sympathy and dedication of the people towards the Ekumeku. In Asaba, the sympathy for the Ekumeku was so high that the people had a disposition to throw off the already British government in certain parts.

At the time, the acting Lieutenant-governor of the Southern provinces sent an agitated telegram to Lagos. It read: “Whole country is above are… is the state of rebellion.”

After this, reinforcements were sent from Lokoja, for another confrontation at Akegbe. The war raged on, till 1914, when the Ekumeku movement was defeated. That was the same year, the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria were joined as one country.

Some of the heroes of that 31-year war included Dunwku Isus of Onicha-Olona, Nwabuzo Iyogolo of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Awuno Ugbo, Obi of Akumazi, Aggbambu Oshue of Igbuzo, the Idabor of Issele-Ukwu, Ochei Aghaeze of Onicha-olona, Abuzu of Idumuje-Unor, Idegwu Otokpoike of Ubulu-Ukwu. These men are remembered in Anioma land till date.

The Ekumeku war remains one of most bravely fought wars and campaign against British rule and plundering. It later inspired other rebellions around Africa, such as the Mau Mau of Kenya.

The Ekumeku have long been defeated, and that kingdom is now part of the greater Igbo land, in today’s Nigeria. But no matter how far we travel in time, history always remembers that a brave tribe defended their ancestry, heritage and legacy against the tyranny of Wilberforce.

Till date, in Nigeria, the Igbo remains one of the few tribes that still resist British rule over them and their resources. It can be said that these sentiments were at play when the British supplied weapons to the Hausa Fulanis in the Northern part and the Yorubas in the Western part of Nigeria to fight and kill the Igbos during the Nigeria Biafra War between 1967-1970 .

BRITISH EV!LS AND ATROCITIES AGAINST IGBOS ARE UNCOUNTABLE!!!

History has been so kind to us and we will never forget..

I am proudly igbo.

BKayy:
LOL.
Only a particular group in Nigeria fell victim to both trans Saharan slave trade and trans Atlantic slave trade. That group is YORUBA.
Unlike others that controlled the flow of the unfortunate slaves through their region, Yorubas have no say in what happens through theirs.

Trans Saharan was controlled by Nupe who hunted Yorubas like the rats they are to sell to Kano. At Kano, the Yorubas became the favourite slaves for their Hausa masters because of Yorubas submissive nature (something that can be seen in them today)

For trans Atlantic, Yoruba land was just a hunting ground where you sell as much as you can capture. No resistance, Nothing. The captured were so docile that they don't need to be chained.
Their docile nature, though liked by the enslavers costed Yoruba Slaves their worth, unlike other places where slaves are costly, Badagry was noted for their cheap slaves. Yorubas are exchanged for as little as a dried gin for ten slaves, 20 young women for an umbrella and 10 women for snuff powder

I would have loved to respond to you sex allegations but no need. Though it is false, I can't return the favour to Yoruba women because no reasonable organism apart from Yoruba men will think of having sex with them because of their hideous look. Their ugliness is their major saving grace from all sexual related atrocities.

By the way take a look at some of the Yorubas sold as rats celebrating their enslaver Seriki of Badagry.

Can you see how foolish you are. The question everyone asks is, why do Ibos love to lie?..
Can you see how foolishly you sound trying to rewrite another person's history in the manner you usually rewrite and twist the narratives of your historically scanty tribe.
Have Yorubas ever denied the circumstances of the Slavery in their history?, Has any Yoruba opened a thread denying the slave history or glorifying slavery as a foolish goat like you do?
The difference between ibos and other sane and more sensible tribes is the fact that they know where they were coming from, where they are and where they are headed, they are very historically put together and structurally organized as not to lack a sense of history as ibos do.
As we speak, Lagos State Government is putting efforts into making Badagry slave market a tourist center with respect to revisiting history and telling it to the world.. The generations of Yoruba across South America and Europe who have transcended their cultural and religious heritage in these parts of the world. It is only ibos who for their shamelessness deny their ancestors were sold off and into Slavery despite supplying most slaves in Africa to white men's plantations.. History can never be changed, fact is sacrosanct.
I understand that the war has caused a great psychological damage to your generations that you struggling to catch up with freeborns & superiors that had one time subdued you. I understand why all of you try as hard to self console, self seek and ego trip so as to have a little feel good factor to boost. Even in all of these, history is history and ain't nothing you can do about it. History is greater than all of you, exists before and will after you gone. And there is nothing 50 million ibos can do about it.

BKayy:
You mean the people that said this below?
This is what they told the whites

"Before the coming of the Europeans, we always looked upon Aro as white-man-like, because from the beginning they were more brainy and cultured"

Has anybody said the same for Yáribas, ehm sorry Yorubas?
You even near the slave name (Yoruba) conferred on you lower species by your Hausa-Fulani masters. A remnant of your past pathetic history as choice of slaves for Hausa Kingdoms then Fulani Caliphate.

Read what those you are putting fake stories into their mouth have to say about Aro

Why do you have to be sorry?.. people call ibo, egboe, heebow etc
I have challenged lots of fools to tell me what Yoruba/Yaríba means in hausa or fulani.. You can't give someone a name that does not exist in your language.
Yet nobody has been able to answer..