Bille Tribe - Origin of Bille

Origin of Bille

According to Oral tradition, when Queen Ikpakiaba the Amabinbo of Bille and her peers left Okolo Bille they first drove past an empty piece of land, which at that time was called Ogonobe Ingbetokuru. This is the present day Obuama in the Degema local Government Area. On the same route, they also sighted and passed a big forest (the present site of the Degema consulate) then known as Sukube Ingbetokuru. We are not so sure if there were people already settled at these settlements (they were regarded as barren lands not inhabited by people) as no mention was made of people they had met during their movements. Had they found any one then, the Bille people would have eliminated them on their route to the south of the area.

They later crossed the sea, passed by another big forest (present day Abonnema but then known as Mene), sailed downwards along the Sombrero River up to the entrance of the tributary called Oruama kubu, and sailed thereon. They later stopped at a small forest called Ikpabiraba Daba and stayed there for some days. The barren land is still there till today.

Considering that the place was too small and quite isolated, they left there and moved further along the route until they came to the Besi kubu creek through which they reached the present Bille town. It was then an island divided into two parts by a small channel with openings at two ends (the Opu Osia polo through the Opu Asa/Opu Okira axis). The channel - kroro - is no longer dividing the town into two having been closed for over a century but there are marks of such a channel at the centre of the town and can be traced at the specific places where it transverse.

They entered the channel through the Opu Osia polo axis and moved into the centre of the town where they stopped to observe that some strange creatures were playing masquerades. These creatures later dived into a huge tunnel close to the centre of the town and disappeared. The creatures were later identified as water spirits, owama be apu. This puzzled Queen Ikpakiaba and peers so they left to disclose their new discovery to their people.

When they came the next time, they also saw the mermaids performing their rituals. They later disappeared into the well as they had earlier described to their people. The Bille people found out much later that the tunnel at the centre of the town was actually an under ground channel that ran from the centre of the town to the mouth of the Opu Bille kubu creek along the Sombrero River several kilometres from the town. This was confirmed by the appearance of persons who surfaced at the said place several days after they were drowned in the tunnel at the centre of Bille. That spot is where the present Bolo tree stands at the centre of the town.

On one of the occasional appearances of the mermaids, the early people of Bille negotiated with them to allow them (Bille people) to stay for seven years before they leave to settle elsewhere and they were permitted. Meanwhile, during this period the mermaids occasionally came out of the tunnel to display as they had done on that first day when the Queen first saw them.

When it was time for the Bille people to leave as earlier agreed, they kept on postponing their departure until the mermaids were tired of driving them. They had to leave the Bille people to stay there permanently. The mermaids then gradually reduced their periodic appearances for their regular masquerade displays until they finally stopped coming although they later came in the form of human beings as could be confirmed by the 'carrying' (or possession) of mermaid spirits by some women and the physical appearance of certain persons in the town. The queen and her colleagues were said to have made sacrifices to drive away the creatures before finally settling on the land.

The Bille people copied these displays and performed them regularly and these have become the bedrock of Bille's traditional heritage and a prominent feature of the Bille culture and tradition. The agiri festival has its origin from this discovery. It has, however, undergone numerous changes and innovations with time. The existence of such mermaids turned humans was confirmed by one of them - late Sibisonio Feniobu - who freely educated natives on their mode of operations when requested. He had named many of his peers who had come from their ‘water’ world because of the agiri festival. Unfortunately, most of them have died before the publication of this book.

Queen Ikpakiaba and her adherents thus settled on the land thereby ignoring the more spacious alternatives at the barren lands of the present day Obuama, Degema, and Abonnema, which she had seen but passed while on her route to Bille. She was indeed divinely led to the present land of Bille.