South Ibie is one of the 13 autonomous clans that constitute the two local government areas of Etsako East and West located in Edo State of Nigeria. The Etsakos belong to the Edo-speaking people of Edo State. The early inhabitants were traditional worshippers, like other Etsako people, until the Nupe and Hausa came to the area in the 19th century.
Brief history of Ibie community
The Ibies within Etsako are part of the Edo-speaking people of the Old Benin Empire. It should be recalled that Benin, one of the most remarkable of the states of the Guinea forest, was at the centre of an empire, the size and orderliness which visited the Guinea Coast towards the end of the 15th Century. The Ibie migrated from Benin during the reign of Oba Ohen who reigned between 1430 and 1450 A.D. The leader of Ibie people (both the current North and South Ibies) that migrated out of Benin was IBIE and his kinsmen and kinswomen hailed from Ugboka royal family of Benin.
On the motive for leaving Benin, we gathered that it was forbidden for a hunter within Benin Kingdom to kill a tiger (which was regarded as a basis for according prestige to the killer-hunter by the reigning Oba). Without the Oba’s permission or without informing him immediately the deed was done, anyone who violated this order was to be executed by way of punishment. Ikhemo was one of the greatest hunters among the family of Ibie, who form the present-day Akpan Quarters in Iyakpi, that mistakenly killed a tiger without prior permission from the Oba. Nonetheless, the matter was immediately reported to the Oba who ordered that Ikhemo should be brought to him for execution within seven days. Ikhemo’s people did not believe that their offence demanded such a drastic punishment. The next viable option open to them was to migrate out of Benin before the expiration of the deadline given by the Oba. It was gathered that before they settled at their present site, immediately they left Benin they stayed briefly at Ute, Ikhi and Warrake village, respectively.
Ibie and his entourage left Warrake peacefully and arrived at their present abode which is located at the present General Post Office, which is located at the site of Iyakpi called Umoyomhovah (the forest where the aboriginal Ibies first settled). They subsequently constructed their houses, which constituted of small huts made of mud and roofed with grass and palm leaves. As a means of livelihood, they embarked on farming and wine tapping. Ibie, the leader of the Ibie people from Benin, had many children among whom were Akpi (the first son), Atse, Odibie, Anogwele, Eghia, Akpah, Ogbe, Ewai Amana, Afana and Ayogwili (Bello-Iman, 1995, P.30, 31).
The Clan has an approximate population of 16,000 inhabitants. Iyakpi, the capital, and its sister village of Sabo account for more than half of this total population from Auchi Polytechnic main gate, which is the current but synthetic boundary of South Ibie Clan with Auchi Clan. The Clan stretches well over 16 kilometres on the Old Auchi-Agenebode Federal Government Road and terminates at the boundary of Ekpen Land, some kilometres after Ogio River (Bello-Imam, 1995 p10).
The Clan is bounded in the East by Ekperi Clan, in the West and North-West by Auchi Clan, in the North and North-West by Uzarive Clan, and in the South-East by Avielle Clan. The Clan is not made up of a single nucleated settlement but comprises a number of settlements. These are Iyakpi town, the administrative headquarters and nine other subordinate villages including one hamlet. The villages in sequential order are Sabo, Ibie–Nafe, Ugiedah, Iyerekhu, Ugiekha, Imadatse Oleda and Ogojuma, while the only hamlet is Imama.
Idol worship before the advent of Islam
Traditional worship of idols was practiced in South Ibie Clan like in other clans within Etsako until the 19th century when the Nupe and Hausa came to the area. One of the popular idols of that time was Olusomi (Rattlesnake) which was believed to be the mother of Ibie. The Olusomi was not harmful to Ibie people and it was a taboo for any Ibie person to kill it. It was gathered that if any Ibie person killed the Olusomi, it was buried the way a human is buried, and any Ibie person who mistakenly ate the Olusomi would swell up and die if necessary sacrifices were not carried out within seven days.
With the advent of Islam in 1919, the Okhaimo Danesi (King Danesi) enjoined the people to shun the worship of idols and practicalised this desire by ordering the demolition of all idols and shrines (Bello-Imam, 1995, p, 101).
The Okhaimho gave 8 pounds sterling to the custodians of the remaining idols to appease and compensate them for the apparent economic loss arising from the abandonment of idol worship after the acceptance of Islam in Ibie Clan.
Advent of Islam in South Ibie
The Nupe invasion, a derivative of the 19th Century Jihad of Uthman Ibn Fodio, is the antecedent and indeed precursor of the Islamisation of South Ibie people. The Jihad embarked upon by the Nupes was motivated not by any sincere intention to Islamise the people but by hostile economic forces which plagued the Nupe Kingdom at the material time, even though invasion was launched under the guise of religious reformation. In order to avoid a total annihilation of South Ibie people, the reigning Okhaimho Oshiofhi played on both common sense and native diplomacy to surrender to the Nupes with a view to accepting their Islamic faith. He entered into an accord with the invaders which eventually brought South Ibie Clan under the suzerainty of Nupe Kingdom. The Nupe appointed Enagaba to see that the terms of the accord were implemented to the letter. Mallam Enagaba eventually permanently settled at Iyakpi until his death. His progeny constitute the present day Ani Quarters at Iyakpi. Mallam Babele from Kano occasionally visited Mallam Enagaba and indeed put up with him. He openly preached Islam to the people who subsequently discovered his vastness in Arabic and Islamic knowledge. However, Islam was already on the ground in South Ibie Clan as early as 1870 and a central mosque was already built at Iyakpi as early as 1907.
Before the death of Okhaimho, he enjoined all the citizen of South Ibie Clan to embrace Islam and specifically requested his successor, Okhaimho Danesi, to uphold and propagate the Islamic faith. After Okhaimho Oghiator’s death, it became obvious that South Ibie Clan was only second to Avielle Clan in the struggle to embrace Islam. Okhaimho Danesi enjoined the people to shun the worship of Idols. He appointed Mallam Belele as the first Chief Imam of South Ibie Clan and sent qualified Iyakpi mallams to the subordinate villages for Islamisation of the entire citizenry. According to Okhimamhe, the mallams sent to subordinate villages include Emoewa Musa to Ibie-Nafe, Braimah Esiekhala to Ugiedah, and Ferri Obagah to Iyerekhu.
Okiamho Danesi was keenly interested in Islamic education, hence he sent both his children and other willing citizens to Quranic School for Islamic Education in Idah town. Prominent among those he sent were Mallam Uthman Ladan Danesi, Mallam Ibrahim Danesi (alias Aghefie), Mallam Aliu Danesi, Mallam Alasa Danesi, and Adul-Qadir Momoh. Today, it is not an overstatement to say that as much as 90 per cent of all the citizens of South Ibie embrace Islam. Paganism has died down and wherever it still exists in the clan, it is greeted with half-hearted commitments.
