Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences

Volume 2, No. 2.4 Quarter IV 2011

ISSN 2229 - 5313

The Aro, Host Communities And Continuities In Intergroup

Suspicion In The Oguta Area Since Pre Colonial Times

Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo

Department of History and International Relations, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Nigeria

Abstract

The history of the Igbo is incomplete without the Aro. The common interest of the Aro and its
host communities has continue to be two sides of the same coin. First the reason for various Aro
settlements are not the same, yet mutual suspicion seems to be a factor affecting the co existence
of the two groups. The Aro and host communities in Oguta are not without these challenges.
Hence this paper uses historical evidences to demonstrate that these two groups have benefitted
from each other and if the challenges ahead(Nkiru) can be subdued, then emphasis must not be
laid on identity question in all spheres of politics and other social configuration in their domain.

Introduction

Oguta attracted attention of early European expedition such as AF Mockler Ferryman and Dr W.
Balkie. In his description of the Oguta geographical area, Balkie remarks that behind Egboma
stands Uguta, the inhabitants of which come to the river for fishing and trading.1 A.F Mockler
Ferryman on 26 October 1889 remarked that: the lake (Oguta Lake) is situated about thirty miles
(48.27km) from the junction of the Ndoni and Orashi and is a fine piece of water, being about
five miles (8.05km) long from east to west and a mile and half (2.41km) wide.2

Sabine Jell-Bahslen in her book The Water Goddess in Igbo Cosmology: Ogbuide of Oguta
Lake accounts that the town of Oguta 1, her neighbors across the lake including K-Beach and all

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of the other Oru-Igbo towns-Orsu Obodo, Ezi Orsu, Nnebukwu, Nkwesi, Mgbelle and Izombe-as
Oguta 11.3 The Oguta communities consist of Oguta(Amaeshi generally referred as Oguta 1 or
the Oguta of the Lake)Egwe, Izombe, Ejemekwuru, Obudi Agwa, Mgballa Agwa, Kalabari
beach(Also referred as Aro Quarters),Nkwesi,Mgbelle,Ossemotor, Abiaziem, Egbuoma, Orsu
Obodo,Ezi Orsu,Nnebukwu and Ejemekwuru .As a matter of geography and demography, Oguta
lies north west of Owerri. It is 40 kilometers from the state capital. It has two sections,Oguta 1
and Oguta 11 separated by the Oguta lake.Oguta had a population of 15,310 in 1963 but the
projected population for 1987 is 27,692.4

For V.H Moult in his Intelligence Report on Oguta in 1933-1934, classified Oguta into
the following groups:

1. Agba:Obudi,Mballa,Obakuma,Umuofoke,Umuokpo,Umuome,Umuekpu,Obama,Umuoma

11. Izombe Village groups:Izombe,Ejemekwuru,Akabor,Awa,Abiaziem,Mbelle

111. Oru village groups:Oguta,Nkwesi,Nebuku,Ossu Obodo,Ossu Obahu

1V. Ebu(Egbu) and Egwe village groups.5

Furthermore, thus noted Moult, Ebu and Egwe are related strongly and ought not to belong to
the Oguta native court system. A letter written in 1924 by the Oma village group comprising of

Mgbidi,Awo,Ozala(Ozara) and Uli for a sack letter to be issued to Mr Shaw of the Oguta native
court for gross incompetence to interprete their language attests to this view. 6 The place of Oguta
in the trade of the lower Niger has attracted a lot of scholarly attention like Isichei
(1976)7, Ndupu(2001)8,Afigbo(1987)9,Nzimiro(1972)10,Agorua(1989)11,Nnani(1998)12,Ifeoma
Agorua(2002)13 just to mention but few. The above writers concur that Oguta was the route to
the core hinterland of Orlu, Owerri and Okigwe respectively.

Nevertheless, the origin of Aro Settlers communities throughout Igbo land dates back a period a
little above 1634.This was the Aro conquest of Ibibio that enabled them to assume ownership of

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the famous oracle Ubini Ukpabi which was known as Ibiratam. Beginning from this era, the
oracle started to enjoy a pan Igbo recognition.14This led to a situation that warranted the Aro
people to move freely inside and even beyond Igbo land unmolested. The Oguta town is at the
heart of palm oil belt and Aro embarked on trade sojourn and established settlements in the area.
The river route from Ogbuide lake via Awo omama, Urashi, Ndoni, Abonema, River Benue, and
coast made Oguta an important commercial centre of trade. Hence this paper will focus on the
following:

i. The emergence of Aro in Oguta

ii. Aro Settlement Patterns ,Politics and Trade

In trying to address Aro activities in Oguta economic history, other influences such as the
activities of traders from kalabari, Ndoni, Abonema, Buguma, which had impact in the
development of the areas. In addition, several issues that constituted barriers to the Aro which
include colonialism and missionary enterprise which of course worked in parripassau to
checkmate the slave trade which was the Aro chief economic earner will be addressed. Other
issues such as world wars, decline of palm oil produce, and the British Aro expedition of 1901-
1902, are not left out in this study.

In addition, efforts are made to highlight some of the post independence mutual distrust of the
host communities over the Aro settlers in land, politics and even in the church, to such an extent
that even most clans which migrated later after the Aro had settled, appears to be leading the
bandwagon that suggests the Aro settlers have an original home in Arochukwu and not in their
present place of abode. Unfortunately, nothing occurs in the memory of this group that the Aro
settlers in Oguta area didn’t come by conquest except agreements and brilliant diplomacy. It is
that cultural history that brought the Aro settlers in Oguta in the first place as well as
developments that create mutual suspicion among them that this paper is set to achieve.

The Emergence of the Aro in Oguta

The Aro emergence as well as settlement cannot be placed in a specified date. In her survey of
the Aro settlements in Oguta, Chizoba Nwaka admits that dating of the Aro settlement in Oguta
is difficult because of the absence of written records as well as archaeological evidences.

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Nevertheless, she maintains a position that trade between the Aro and other Igbo groups predated
the Trans Atlantic slave trade and that Aro settlement spread cut for a longtime and even some
settlements according to her may be dated as late as the second half of the 19th century.15In my
field work in this area for over a decade, I tried to use the genealogical charts of the Aro families
and I have arrived to a conclusion that by the beginning of the 18th century, the Aro had already
settled. To justify this claim, there is substantial evidence to demonstrate that Oguta played a
remarkable role in the voyage of an Igbo ex slave Olaudah Equiano discovered by Professor
Catherine Acholonu to have come from Isseke in Ihiala area of Anambra state. Even thou there
are serious historical indications that it was not the Aro that kidnapped Equiano in the first place
rather his kinsmen but he must have passed through Oguta to the sojourn to the new world.
According to Equiano:

I was sold for 172 kauri shells by a merchant who brought me there

In this town I was discovered by a rich widow who bought me from

the merchant and i became her slave. Her house and premises were

situated close to one of those rivulets I have mentioned and were the

finest I ever saw in Africa.16

Furthermore, Acholonu observes as follows:

Olaude’s description of this lady merchant and her premises, ‘‘they (her

Premises) were extensive and she had a number of slaves to attend her,’’

smacks of Oguta and Onitsha women. But whether or not this lady’s

house was in or around Oguta or Onitsha, the fact remains that further

travels brought the slave boy through several riverine lands…he must

have passed through either or both of these towns, for it is only in

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Onitsha or Oguta and environs that Olaude could have encountered the

Igbo speaking women merchant who owned the house with a large premises

by the riverside.17

This simply suggests that merchant in question who sold to an Oguta woman was probably an Aro
and by 1756 when Equiano was kidnapped, the Aro slave network has been established in the
Oguta area thus helping in so many ways to address the problems of the origin of the presence of
the Aro settlements in Oguta area to date.

The Arochukwu kingdoms (home of the Aro both home and Diaspora) is comprised of 19 villages
namelyUtuhugwu,Ugwuakuma,Amangwu,Agbagwu,Asaga,Amasu,Ugbo,Ujari,Isimpu,Amaofia,
Atani,Amukwa,Ugwuafo,Amankwu,Amaoba,Ibom,Obinkita,Amangwu and Oror.18 Hence the Aro
movements came from these aforementioned village groups and so do they pre occupy their
dominated village groups in Oguta area as we shall see later in this paper. More importantly is that
they still maintain a strong link with their ancestral homes in Arochukwu. According to Chizoba
Nwaka, the Aro founding father in Oguta came in batches. The first batch of settlers was
Okoronkwo Ohu a well known trader from Atani village of Arochukwu. He arrived with his three

Sons-Awa,Owanibe and Aromenyeforonye. The descendants of Awa make up Aro Izombe while
Owanibe forms part of Izombe and Egbu as well as Aromenyforonye forming part of Egbu and
Izombe.A later batch led by Igwe formed Ndiabiziem while another batch from Ibom village
from Ndi Udegbu lineage forms Ndionyemobi. A later batch of Aro immigrants settled in
Ohakpu where they are known as Ndi Okwara and their father was known as Okparaeke in Atani
village of Arochukwu.19

Since Aro migration involves different dyads of the Aro village groups, the pre occupation of a
particular area by the Aro seems to be dominated by people of the same village group be it Atani,
Obinkita, Ibom etcetera as we shall discuss later in this paper. It is important to reflect our earlier
view that not every Oguta town accommodates Aro settlement. Few of them like Oguta(lake
Oguta) and Ezi Orsu have an organized central political and monarchial system which is not
found in most communities the Aro settled at that period. Hence my informant in Oguta Mr.
Christopher .A Agorua told me in clear terms that the Aro settled and formed government where

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there was no kingdom.20 Most of these kingdoms in the Oguta area trace their origin to Benin
which they left after Oba Esegie unleashed terror on them. These communities in Oguta were
part of Ezechima migration in Igbo history.21They were said to have settled in Ado na Oba
before their eventual sojourn to their present place of abode hence they adopted the organized
centralized political system found in Benin which made Aro intrusion into Oguta kingdoms
impossible as already mentioned above. Works of Ikenna Nzimiro,Ndupu,Odigbo and Anozia
upholds this view and will in the course of this study serve relevant point of analysis.

Nevertheless, V.H Moult Intelligence Report of 1933 refers to these kingdom groups as
22
Oru(that is riverside dwellers) who came from the region of Aboh and Illah. In her novel titled
Efuru, Flora Nwapa whose theatre of analysis(setting) in that historical novel was Oguta made an
important remark in Efuru’s genealogy in a manner to reflect Aro incursion. According to her:

The daughter of Nwashike Ogene, the mighty man of valor. Ogene

Who single handed, fought against the Aros when they came to molest

us. Nwashike himself proved himself the son of his father.23

It is possible judging from this account that early Aro attempt to settle in Oguta witnessed stiff
oppositions. Nevertheless, Chizoba Nwaka’s finding is contrast with this view. According to her,
the Aro settlements in Oguta are located in suburbs because people in these villages are more
inclined to farming than to trading, so that the Aro who were not good at farming could benefit
from their harvests and at the same time transact their business with the commercial people of
Oguta town. Furthermore, she accounted of an informant report that Oguta people are islanders,
with very little land left for their own habitation. The Aro, on their own part are generally
conscious of their own culture and guarded it jealousy. This is why they always asked for a
separate and underdeveloped area for their settlement. 24 The small availability of land accrued to
kingdom communities in Oguta could be responsible for the inability of the Aro groups to settle
in the first instance.

The origin of the Aro factor in Oguta political history can be best described from four folds. First
as slave merchants, next as oracular agents, third as war mercenaries for their host communities

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and fourth as traders of European goods who enjoyed the navigational route from Awomama,
Oguta to Ndoni, Buguma, Ukwuani, Onitsha etcetera. In the first place, it was the slave trade that
brought the Aro to Oguta. This has led a prominent Nigerian historian professor G.I Nwaka to
postulate that:

Oguta was also prominent in the slave trade. The presence of large Aro

settlements in the Egbu and Egwe neighbours of Oguta suggests the

involvement of the area in illicit traffic slaves which was controlled by

the Aro.25

The other factors responsible for the Aro settlement such as oracular agents, war mercenaries,
and traders of other European goods will be discussed below in our quest to look at the Aro
settlement pattern, politics and trade.

Aro Settlement, Patterns, Politics and Trade

After the defeat of Ibibio by the Aro in 1634, a new hegemony was created by the Aro slave
trading. The defeat of Ibibio by a combined effort of Igbo groups and the Akpa warriors from
Akamkpa opened new vista in human trafficking by the Aro.26 The Aro man who took the Ibibio
oracle retained its priest Loesin to initiate Aro indigenes and as well teach them the expertise. 27
Beginning from the period, Ubini Ukpabi began to enjoy pan Igbo influence. 28In his book, The
Igbo and their Neighbours, professor Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo notes that:

Each member of the juju has his messengers who go and reside in the various

districts under guise of traders. Those men are the principal messengers of the

chiefs. They each have a number of minor messengers under them. The chief

messenger after having settled in many districts make friends of the people of

the district in which they reside. Though the friends made the messenger hear

of all palavers and the trouble of the people.He then goes to the people and advise

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them to go to the long juju and consult Chukwu.The people ask him to lead them

to Chukwu.29

With this development, the Aro never lost for such a sojourn. This is because if they are not paid
for consulting Chukwu(God) the customer(the person who wishes to see Ubini Ukpabi) may end
up becoming the product instead of the buyer he proposed to be. The flimsy excuse given in this
circumstance was that the sacrifice was unacceptable to Chukwu and in punishment he eats up
the person offering the sacrifice.

Nevertheless, all about Ubini Ukpabi was not in the negative realm all through. Ifemesia for
example described the oracle as a famous fertility god of Igboland. 30 My informant in Oguta
confirms this as follows:

My father Agorua was in Aro to visit Ubini Ukpabi in order to get a male

son. After visiting for the seventh time, my mother Adiberi conceived and

gave birth to me.31

The fertility of Ubini Ukpabi still reflects in Oguta personal names such as Uzoaru-the road to
Aro. The distant of Arochukwu home of Ubini Ukpabi made the Aro to establish other oracles
such as Igwekala of Umunneoha as a way of safeguarding their economic activities. The
Igwekala of Umunneoha which is very close to Oguta is not the only Aro established oracle

outside Ubini Ukpabi. Others such as Agballa Awka and Kamalu in Ozuzu also existed. Of
particular interest to this study is Igwekala of Umunneoha .Early European ethnographers
described it as Alla, meaning ground and I’gwik one who lived before coming down. According
to the report by Balkie in 1856, in Isuama, if a man is sick, the doctor the often tell friends to
Igwikalla and he is also worshipped by person wishing to injure others. His supposed abode is
generally in a bush which has been well cleared all rounds but occasionally huts are dedicated to
him.32 For Basden, Igwe ka-Ala of Umunneoha was regarded as second in Importance to the
Chukwu of the Aros.33The strategic position of Igwekala Umunneoha is not too far from Oguta.
The oracle is situated strategically between Ogbaku and Owerri axis in a calm environment in
Umunneoha. Basden observes that: footpaths led to this concealed centre from different

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directions, each being used by different quarters of Umunneoha, the villagers exercising their
own prerogative to conduct clients seeking counsel to the oracle. 34The placement of the oracle in
and around Igbo land helped in boosting morals in wars of conquest and pillage. 35The
importance of Igwekala for Aro settlers in Oguta was justified by Ofonagoro who recall that:

The Aros recognized the commercial importance of Ogbaku,

the oracle Igwekala they established at Umunneoha was the

pivot of Aro influence in the whole of southwestern Igbolands

and the backdoor of Nembe-Brass. The smaller Aro settlements

of Aro Izombe near Oguta played a supporting role in enhancing

this influence.36

However, the Aro at Oguta axis recognizes the strategic position of the Njaba river where
they placed Igwekala Umunneoha near the Awomama town of the Njaba river which is a
tributary to Oguta lake. The Oguta Lake provided the slave merchants avenue to sail to the Niger
Delta. In the heyday of the slave trade (18th century) thus wrote Ekechi ‘‘Oguta was one of the
very important slave market in the Igbo hinterland. It was from here that Aro slave dealers who
dominated the Igbo slave trade transported slaves to the delta markets like Isiokpo, Ikwerre,
Opobo, Bonny and Ukwa.37 Hence E.J Alagoa recall that:

The Aro excelled in the manipulation of an oracle for the purposes

of advancing the economic interests of a group. The most significant

innovation was their use of mercenaries to enforce their will and to

collect slaves for sale. The neighboring Abam,Ohafia and Edda lived

themselves out to the Aro as mercenaries. By these means the Aro

build up a network of markets, trade routes and agent communities

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round the greater portion of Igboland.38

It was in cognizance of the Aro slave network in Oguta that Izombe was destroyed in 1902 by
the Aro field force and Ejemekwuru was partially destroyed by the columns sent against the
Igwe Juju of Umunneoha in 1903.39Many writers like Onwukwe saw nothing wrong with Aro
involvement in the slave trade. According to him, it was the Whiteman’s insatiability that
prolonged the trade while the Aro only exploited the situation.40 Nevertheless, the Aro utilized
flaws in cultural laws as a means of acquiring slaves. In the Igbo customlogy of the 18th century,
given birth to twins and children with upper teeth(ezelu) was a very big taboo. The Aro acquired
these victims in the pretence of taking them to Ubini Ukpabi via Umunneoha from where they
are sold to the coastal areas through Njaba route, Oguta lake to Abonema, Buguma, Brass area of
the Niger delta to the Atlantic.

The next reasons for the establishment of Igwekala of Umunneoha by the Aro was to create trade
route from the Njaba river to the coastal area, a situation that represents the same mission of
Ubini Ukpabi of Arochukwu hence justifying Nwabara’s view that Igwekala fulfilled almost the
same function as long juju.41It must be noted that Aro settlement in Oguta must have been
attracted by the place of Oguta as an important slave market in Igbo land.

Third, it is important to note that Aro settlements in most places were peaceful. The
communities under the peaceful settlement pattern of the Aro include Uzuakoli,
Ihube, Achi, Umunneoha, Ihiala, Oguta Ngwa etc.42 There were cases of Aro settlements as a
result of threats from neighbouring villages. Dike and Ekejiuba wrote that:

non-Aro groups either invited Aro traders to live among them

(if there was no Aro settlement in the vicinity) to ensure military

access to the Ubini Ukpabi oracle or entered into marriage alliance

with leading Aro chiefs, by giving their daughters in marriage. Non

Aro chiefs were, as it to be expected responsible for all the express

Involved in recruiting the warriors.43

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In Egbuoma town of Oguta, It is in their oral tradition that Aro settlement came on invitation.
The Uli town neighbouring town often attack the Omadi village group of Egbuoma on the
account that there meat was sweet. Severe attacks of the Uli against the Egbuoma continued
until one of their prominent sons Madubueze was killed and they invited early Aro settlers
such as Nwosu Akpiri, Ndi Nwaka, Okoronkwo Ohu, Ndi Anyiwo whose original home is
Atani Arochukwu.44 The presence of this Aro groups in combination with their Abam
warriors stopped the incessant Uli attack.
The Aro Egbu is made up of nine kindred following their order of seniority. They are
Uchenivu (Ndi Nwaka),Okoronkwo Aro, Ndi Anyiwo,Ndi Ikenga,Ndi Onyeorisa,Ndi
Ugboguru,Ndi Okparaeke,Ndi Ajaero, and Ndi Igwe.They are referred as Umuchukwu
literally meaning God’s own children by their Egbu host.45 The Omadi village group who
invited the Aro settled them with a piece of land where they presently occupy known as
Owerre Echi. The Owerre Echi land originally belong to Echi whose original mother was
from Omadi. Before this period, the Aro groups invited such as Ndi Okoronkwo were living
in a place known as Ubaramehi precisely Amaubilaso while Ndi Nwaka and Ndi Anyiwo
lived in Ebeleano just as Ndi Osuochara lived in Umuorjinta villages in Egbuoma.46The west
of Egbuoma is occupied by another Aro village group Ndi Igwe who were invited by
Umuolowu and east of Egbuoma is another Aro village group Ndi Onyemobi. Ndi Onyemobi
a mixture of immigrants from Amorka and Ibiasogbe has two groups namely Ndi Oti and Obi
na Ugwu. The Ndi Ajaero came later but were more powerful that

Ajaero’s another name Onyemobi was used for the community name as Ndi stands for People,
hence Ndi Onyemobi meaning Onyemobi’s people. The legend of origin has it that Ajaero a
powerful slave merchant travelled to Arochukwu but on his return home, he was told that one of
his slaves slept with one of his wife, surprisingly, instead of killing the slave, he made it possible
for the barrier between slaves and masters to be broken. This encouraged many migrants into the
area.47A great number of these groups came from Ozara in a place known as
Umunwabuezihe.48Most of the Aro settlement that stayed back in Ozara can be traced to the
Onwukeme Ukeje family group in Ozara.49 The fact remains that prior to Ajaero arrival, most of
the batches of settlers in Ndi Onyemobi came from Ibom village group of Arochukwu from the
lineage of Ndi Udegbu.50 Hence Obi na Ugwu(dwellers on the hill) and Obinaikpa( forest

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dwellers ) earlier mentioned is a clear manifestation of indifference on settlement date and

arrival. The essence of allowing more people into the town was for strategic reasons as they
checkmate against Oguta expansionist drive by the Obi na Ugwu group just as Obinikpa guards
against the Ozara group. A report in 1925 from the District officer Owerri to the District officer
Okigwi has it that:

The people of Ebu-Oguta have complained about persons from

Ozara trespassing on their land and cutting palm nuts.I do not

Know if there is anything in the complaint,but would be grateful

If you would be kindly advise the Ozara people to keep to their side

of the boundary.51

Onwukwe was right to say that the Aro acted as buffer zones for areas of high insecurity.52
The Aro in Egbuoma are in most cases referred as Aromenyeforonye that is the Aro that has
pleased everyone.53 As it stands, it must be emphasized that inter group disharmony
necessitated the movement of the Aro group out of Ozara. This is an important area of research
in family history that interested academics should not hesitate to do. Most of these Aro group
found their way to Egwe eg Ndi Okwara in Aro Egwe.54

In Egwe community, the Aro occupies strategic position of the slope of the hill ( Ugwu Egwe) of
the neighbouring Oguta Amaeshi(oguta 1/Lake Oguta) and north of the town by Umuehi Mgbidi.
Professors Dike and Ekejiuba in their book The Aro of Southeastern Nigeria recalls that:

In places like Oguta and Udi, Aro settlements were strategically placed

and acted as a buffer between the larger and weaker groups. Thus Aro

Egwe,an Aro settlement was placed between Egwe and Oguta while Aro

Izombe was situated between Oguta and Izombe groups whom high records

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were dislodged by Oguta in their bid to settle. In this position Egwe and

Izombe allied with the Aro settlers and this alliance which assured Egwe

of the regular military aid to prevent further encroachment by Oguta. 55

The Aro settlements in Egwe include four villages out of the present fourteen villages that
constitute the town. They are as follows: Ndi Okwara, Ndi Mazi, Ndi Agbara, and Ndi Okorie.

Ndi Mazi’s original home in Arochukwu is Amaukwa while Ndi Okwara’s Arochukwu
home is Atani and Ugwuakuma. The incessant attack on Egwe hosts which include
Amansima, Okwuekili, Ezioha, Okwuduru, Imo, Umuokwanta, Umuehi, Ihitte Egwe,
Amangbulu, and Eziama village groups by the Dike village group of Mgbidi led Egwe
people to contract the Aro Ndi Okwara and Ndi Mazi to stay and defend them in the Umuehi
boundary north of Egwe town. For the Oguta people who were intruding Egwe town, the Ndi
Okorie and Ndi Agbara Aro village groups were contracted to stay in the hilly part of Egwe
town. These Aro group in the hilly side of the Egwe town are referred as Ike bi ni ugwu-
power that lives in the hills.56

It was albeit of loopholes emanating from social insecurity and more especially the Oguta
quest for more lands that made Awa, Izombe, Mgbelle and other towns to checkmate their
territorial expansion. When Oguta people arrived from Benin, they have to depose the king of
Awa by Eneke Okitutu group being the fisherman who discovered Oguta.57 The chased Awa
across the lake and the fear of further attack by the Oguta people led to the invitation of the
Aro groups by the Awa people for protection against Oguta incursion.

It is important we reflect on the fact that it is not every Aro settlement in the Oguta area that
has a host group .The Abiaziem case study is exemplary. Certainly, Abiaziem town is
dominated by the Aro and they have no host. This reflects in their name Abia-ziem which
literally means I have now come to stay signifying an entirely area dominated only by the
Aro. Writing in 1933, V.H Moult observes that:

All the towns in Izombe group with the exception of Abiaziem,

claim always to have occupied the land where they now live.

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Abiaziem is composed entirely of Aros, and the land on which

they are now settled belonged originally to Izombe. More than

half of Mbelle is also comprised of Aros, and there are Aro families

settled in Awa and Izombe.58

Another strategy adopted by the Aro was interlock marriages. This was designed by the Aro by
making chains of close relations among the axis upon which they trail. This system affords them
opportunity of carrying out long distant traders based on their relations living in their trade route.
The engage in mutual satisfactory relationship with important leaders of their host communities.
They went into judicious marriages with these communities as Aro men married daughter of
powerful and influential leaders of these communities. By such marriages they protect bond of
kingship made Aro population to increase and extend to a wide geographical area. 59In our area of
study, Ofonagoro recalls that interlock marriages ties between the leading families in the village
along the Owerri-Ogbaku-Oguta trade routes were very useful in ensuring the security and
convenience of traders from the villages operating along the route. The author gave instance with
chief Nwauwa aka Okwara Egbula married a first cousin of Chief Odu of Ogbuke Ogbaku-a
daughter of Iroegbu, chief Odu younger brother. One of Nwauwa’s daughters was in turn
married to Chief Egbuchulem of the Aro settlement of Umunneoha. Futhermore, Ada Nwauwa’s
daughter by the Iroegbu marriage was subsequently married to Ihenancho, an official of the
native and a relative of the chief of Awa.60

The intermarriages of Aro and non Aro alike was a prominent feature which boosted trade except
marrying Oguta women. According to V.H Moult:

Oguta men will marry from Ebu and from Mbidi and Uri under Orlu

and Ihiala under Onitsha, but Oguta women as has been said do not

agree to marry into inland towns.61

It is important to note that economic activities in Oguta area encouraged Aro settlements. For the
Aro in Egbuoma and Egwe were trading in a special kind of wrapper from Ukwuani known as

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Olugwo as well as other goods.62 The Aro brought in new types of cassava, firearms and cloths
through their agents into Oguta and automatically changed the economic horizon of the
town.63Apart from the slave trade, Chuku listed the economic endeavours of the Aro as follows:

They engaged in the assemblage and the distribution of goods and services.

The locally made products which they distributed were obtained from the

areas of Ututu and Ihe for foodstuff, Awka, Abiriba and Nkwerre for blacksmith

implements, Ijo for fish and salt as well as several other goods from Idoma,

Igala and Nike. They also traded in European goods in exchange of slaves and

other minor crafts. Their imports were fire arms of all descriptions, beads, brass

basing discarded sailors and soldiers uniforms, jackets, hats, umbrellas, scissors,

razor blades, bed covers, tobacco, matches.64

Apart from trade, the Aro established relationships with agricultural communities such as Ututo
and Ihe which grew foodstuffs for communities engaged in full time trade.65According to Ndupu,

The Aro dominated grid of regional markets over Igboland, Ossomari and Oguta acted as
terminal ports of call for Aro agents.66Justifying these further, Isichei remarks that:

The Aro held trade fair at Bende and further north at

the salt manufacturing centre of Uburu. They bought

food from neighbouring farmers such as the Ututo and

employed the Igbere group as contract porters.67

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The popularity of Bende as prominent Igbo slave market need not to be over emphasized.For it
has received scholarly attention from Pita Nwana’s Omenuko as well as the account of Dr Balkie
voyage to the Niger in 1856 already mentioned.68Professor V.C Uchendu remarked that with the
abolition of the slave trade such as slave markets as Uburu, Uzuakoli, Oguta and Bende have
fallen in importance. The end of the slave trade did not make Oguta a lost city. This is because
palm oil got its prominence thereafter which still made Oguta an important Igbo economic centre
of trade.69

Conclusion

In this paper, we have x-rayed some significant aspect of Aro settlement in the Oguta area. First,
it must be emphasized that Aro settlers in the Oguta area came strictly on invitation. The Aro
provided security as well as European goods to their host in exchange for goods and services. A
situation that accommodates the host communities to look at the Aro from the perspective of
mutual suspicion is a demonstration of lack of historical incompetence.

References

1 William Balfour Balkie, Narrative of An Exploring Voyage Up the Rivers Kwora and Binue
commonly known as The Niger and Tsadda in 1854,London:John Murray 1856,p.300
2 A.F Mockler-Ferryman ‘Up the Niger’London,1892 ,p.236
3 Sabine Jell-Bahslen, The Water Goddess in Igbo Cosmology: Ogbuide of Oguta Lake, Trenton
and Asmara: Africa World Press 2008, P.24
4 Oguta,Imo State Handbook, Owerri: Ministry of Information, Youths and Sports,1998,p.29
5 NAE(Hereafter National Archive Enugu) EP 10782A CSE 1/85/5322 V.H Moult Intelligence
Report on Oguta Native Court Area 1933-1934,paragraph 2
6 Ibid paragraph56, see also NAE file no 23/1924 OWDIST 9/10/6 Oguta Native Court 1924 from
Resident Owerri Province to the District officer Owerri MP N.O Ow: 659 /1923 22nd November
1924
7 Elizabeth Isichei, A History of the Igbo People ,London :Macmillan 1976
8 A.O Ndupu, A Short Cultural History of Oguta, Enugu: Snaap Press 2001
9 A.E Afigbo, Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture, Ibadan :University Press limited

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10 Ikenna Nzimiro, Studies in Ibo Political Systems: Chieftaincy and Politics in Four Niger States,
London: Frankcass 1972
11 .A.A Agorua,The Rise and Fall of Oguta Middlemen in Oguta,1800-1970,Unpublished PhD
Thesis Submitted to the University of Jos 1989
12 E.E Nnani,The Socio-Economic History of Oguta Imo State 1800 to Present, Unpublished BA
Project Submitted to the University of Lagos 1998
13 Ifeoma Agorua, The Socio-Economic History of Oguta Imo State 1900 to 1960, Unpublished BA
Project Submitted to the University of Lagos 1998
14 Afigbo, Ropes of Sand,P.18
15
Chizoba Nwaka, Aro Settlements in Oguta: A Survey, A Special Research Project Submitted to
the Department of History and Archaeology University of Nigeria Nsukka in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for A Bachealor Of Arts Degree June 1983,P.9
16
Olaudah Equiano, Interesting Narratives in
17 Catherine Acholonu, The Igbo Roots of Olaudah Equiano, Abuja: Afa Publications 2007,p.
18 Ola Balogun, Ibin Ukpabi of Arochukwu, Nigerian Magazine No.114 1974,p.43
19
Chizoba Nwaka, Aro Settlements in Oguta,pp.15-17
20
Oral Interview with CA Agorua, Umuenu Village-9 Eneke RD Oguta,16/8/2005 76 years.
21
For a comprehensive understanding of this migration, see U.U Okonkwo, Ezechima: The Historic
King that Binds the East and West Niger Igbo ,Lagos: Grace Anasiudu Press 2006
22 V.H Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta 1933-1934,Paragrap 3
23 Flora Nwapa ,Efuru, London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd 1966,p.11
24 Chizoba Nwaka, Aro Settlements in Oguta, P.3
25 Geoffrey I .Nwaka, Trade in Oguta,Nigeria,1885-1945,Bulletin de I’I.F.A.N T.41,Ser.B
n4.1979,p.775
26 Gloria Chuku, Economic Bases of Igbo Traditional Politics in U.D Anyanwu and JCU Aguwa ed.
The Igbo and Tradition of Politics, Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers,1993,p.174
27 Aro News Magazine,Vol.7 no.2,September 2004,p.15
28 A.E Afigbo, Ropes of Sand,P.18
29 A.E Afigbo, The Igbo and their Neighbours, Ibadan: University Press Ltd 1987,p.43
30 Chieka Ifemesia, Traditional Humane Living Among the Igbo: An Historical Perspective, Enugu:
Fourth Dimension Publishers 1979,p.125
31 C A Agorua, Interview granted to the author, 16/8/2005 ,76 years.
32 William Balfour Balkie,Narrative of an Exploring Voyage,P.315

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33 G.T Basden, Niger Ibos ,London: Frank Cass and Co 1966,p.91

34 Ibid
35 Nwala Uzodinma, Some Reflections on British Conquest of Traditional Oracles 1900-
1924,Nigeria Magazine no 142 1982,p.30
36 Walter Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria 1881-1929,Nigeria:Nok
Publishers 1979,p.31
37 F.K Ekechi, The Development of Palm Oil at Oguta Eastern Nigeria With Special Reference to
the Role of Kalabari Traders, Nigeria Magazine no 134-135,1981,p.52
38 E.J Alagoa, The Eastern Niger Delta and the Hinterland in the 19th Century in Obaro Ikime ed
Groundwork of Nigerian History, Ibadan: Heinemann Books Ltd 1980,p.259
39 NAE(Hereafter National Archive Enugu)V.H Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta Court Area
1933-1934,Paragraph 21
40 S.O Onwukwe, Rise and Fall of Arochukwu Empire 1400-1902:21st Century Perspective
,Owerri:Udebiuwa Press Nigeria 1998,p.23
41 S.N Nwabara, Iboland: A century of Contact with Britain 1860-1960,London:Hodder and
Sttoughton,1970,p.54
42 Onwuka Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba, The Aro of Southeastern Nigeria 1650-
1980,Ibadan:University Press Ltd 1990,P.183
43 Ibid
44 Interview with Mazi Stephen Anyiwo,Umuchukwu Village Egbuoma 86 years 4 July 2004
45 P.U Oguoma, The Music and Dance of Ekeleke Masquerade Unpublished BA Thesis Submitted
to the Department of Music University of Nigeria Nsukka 1980,p.2
46 Interview with Mazi Stephen Anyiwo,Umuchukwu Village,86 Years, 4 July 2004.Also Interview
with Mazi Agbakansi Okorie,Ndi Igwe,Egbuoma,72 years 6 January 2005
47
Interview with Chief Ogbuagu Lazarus Nwankwo ,Ndi Ugboguru Egbuoma 3 February 2004
48
Interview with Mazi Stephen Anyiwo
49 Interview with Mazi Anyiwo Anyiwo,Aro Egbu Village-A prominent canon shooter,70 years,12
December 2004
50 Chizoba Nwaka, Aro Settlement in Oguta:A Survey,p.16
51 NAE File no 35/1925 OWDIST 9/11/32 A Letter 84/35/1925 From the District officer Owerri to
the District officer Okigwi People of Ebu-Oguta-Complaint by 29th January 1925
52
S.O Onwukwe,Rise and Fall of the Arochukwu Empire 1400-1902,p23

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53 U.U Okonkwo, Aro Factor in Egbuoma History, Being A Paper Presented at the Inaugural
Ceremony of Aro Egbuoma Peoples Association(APA)30 December 2004,p.4
54 Interview with Mazi Innocent Eziukwu 51 years, Mazi Stephen Orie 80 years both of Ndi Mazi
village Egwe 9 January 2006
55 Onwuka Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba ,The Aro of Southeastern Nigeria, pp 183-184
56 Interview with Mazi Innocent Eziukwu 51 years, Mazi Stephen Orie 80 years both of Ndi Mazi
village Egwe 9 January 2006
57 A.O Ndupu, A Short Cultural History of Oguta,p.82
58 V.H Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta 1933-1934,Paragraph 21
59 Gloria Chuku, Economic Bases of Igbo Traditional Politics ,p
60 Walter Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria 1881-1929,P.131
61
V.H Moult, Intelligence Report on Oguta 1933-1934,Paragraph 21
62
Interview with Anyiwo Anyiwo, Aro Egbu,70 years,12 December 2004
63 A.O Ndupu, A Short Cultural History of Oguta,p.82
64 Gloria Chuku,P.180
65 Ndupu,p.82
66
Ibid
67 Elizabeth Isichei,A History of the Igbo People,p25
68 Pita Nwana, Omenuko, London: Longman 1933
69 V.C Uchendu,The Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria, London:Vinehort 1965,p.27

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