Igbanke - Conflict Management at The Village Level

Conflict Management At The Village Level

Land is said to be a major asset in traditional African society. Conflict over land could arise as a result of problem of inheritance, farmland, settlement and boundary dispute. A major war that ensued between the Igbanke and Agbor people in 1895 was as a result of land. Omorogbe Nwanwene narrates the story accordingly:

"The genesis of the war dated back to early 1895. It started like a grain of mustard seed. It started due to accusations of land encroachment by the Agbor indigenes at the border lands. All these got to the apogee the moment an Igbanke woman on the border land(s) was abducted."

An Igbontor man known as Mgbako went to Agbor to get back his wife who went to farm and never returned. On getting to Agbor, he also was taken captive. The cause of this tragic phase of man’s inhumanity to man – taking a man’s wife illegally and then taking the husband prisoner for daring to ask for his wife is on something material: land. The news of this high-handedness spread over Igbanke with incredible rapidity.

First of all, an Igbontor general, Ojei, nicknamed Orimatun, went to Agbor on a friendly mission to get the release of Mgbako. He too was caught. Unable to kill him by any means, the people of Agbor asked Orimatun to go back to his people and tell them that they would never gain the release of Mgbako. All Igbanke leading men met and took a decision to send all Nwobu (untouchable) priests to Agbor to secure Mgbako’s release. But the people of Agbor killed them all. All overtures of peace from the Igbanke people of Agbor were turned down by the Obi of Agbor – Obi Osagbobu. Cosequently, the Igbankes regrouped with their warlords and war was declared on Agbor in 1895. The tumultuous war raged on until both villages saw the need basically for some reasons: The sacredness of life in the traditional religion; the intermarriage that exists between them; the long relationship that had existed between long before the war, and the need for peace.

The move for peace started with the Obi of Agbor extending fresh palm frond leaves to the Eze of Igbanke. Usually, the item is dispatched by a young lad (believed to be very harmless), clad with Ekwo-ochan (white traditional apparel). The lad is escorted by two warriors up to the boundary where he is left to deliver the item to the emissaries of the king at the other camp. If the other king is in support of peace, he accepts the fresh palm frond and sends the lad back with two of his servants bearing a white dove or a cork. But if he refuses, the lad will be sent back with a red cloth, or he could be killed. But in the case of the Igbanke-Agbor war, the peace move was taken. The moment the white dove was sent to Agbor, the war stopped. Delegates of both kings met at the boundary, performed the necessary sacrifices, killed a he-goat, spilled the blood in a hold right there at the boundary and planted a kola-nut tree right there. Till date, the area is still called Ogidon (a corruption of Ogi-udon: kola nut of peace).