Thread by @Ayibatonye0

#NigerDelta History/Ekpeye.
Benin Empire was one of the greatest of the
time. They were said to have migrated from
Oduduwa Empire of the Yorubas. The Obas
had little regard for human beings. They
were taken as the ancestors and thereby
were honored as gods. At about 1542 AD,

during the reign of Oba Awuarre, his
atrocities were so severe that his subjects
could no longer bear; hence, they planned to
assassinate him. The plot was revealed to
the Oba who instantly became very hostile to
the people. The hostility resulted in a great
exodus of people

from the Benin Empire for
fear of being killed. Amongst the brave
soldiers of the Oba and also of the royal
family, was a man called Akalaka . He had a
son called Ekpeye . He also has a sister who
was one of the noble ladies of the palace of
the Oba. As was the custom for Oba’s

pleasure, beautiful ladies were drawn from
noble families in the kingdom to serve in
Oba’s palace.
HRM Eze Ekpeye Logbo II, the current
reigning king
Akalaka was a very close general to the Oba.
Incidentally, the Oba suspected that the
assassination plan must have been

masterminded by his nearest men of which
Akalaka was one. The accusation was
revealed to Akalaka’s sister. To save the life
of her brother, she secretly told him. In order
to escape the danger ahead, Akalaka fled to
Agbo with his family and there he married a
second wife to gain

the love and favor of the
people. The wife gave birth to a son who he
named Ogba. Still at Agbo , the first wife,
Ekpeye’s mother, gave birth to another son
and he called him Ihruoda (Ikwere).
Akalaka became very prosperous; his
warrior’s nature could not be hidden. He was
a

great hunter and notorious herbalist. After
sometime, he was hated by the people for
his bold approach to issues which resulted to
open confrontations. The Obi of Agbo
planned to conscript the able men of the
kingdom, for his services, Ekpeye was listed
as one of them. Akalaka

having had his
experience in his home in Benin kingdom,
stealthily left Agbo with his family. He moved
southwards, following River Niger. After many
years of wandering, he came to the Orashi
River. Because Akalaka had waxed old,
Ekpeye then took over the leadership from is

father. Along Orashi River, Ekpeye found a
creek on the eastern side of the river. They
stopped and stayed for a while, that was
where Ikodu Ekpeye is situated now. The
inhabitants of the area called Ikpachors were
very wicked and hostile. Ekpeye and his
people planned to move

to the hinterland, but
the Ikpachors opposed them and this resulted
to a war between them. The Ikpachors were
aggressively defeated. Those of them that
survived fled to the western side of the
Orashi River.
Ekpeye and his entourage entered the
hinterland through the creek (Utu)

and landed
at a lake called Odhulle in the swamp
between Ula-Ubie and Ogoda villages, and it
is now Ude (lake) Ubie. Though dried up, the
relics of the creek at Ikodu- Ekpeye can still
be seen today, the shrine (Utu) is being
worshipped at Ikodu Ekpeye. They settled at
the

Odhulle lake for a while after which they
moved northwards and founded a good
arable land where they settled and called the
place Ulobe, meaning, a good place for
dwelling. At Ulobe, they celebrated the victory
over Ikpachors and thanked their gods for
their safe arrival to the

place. That is the
festival of Ogwu -Ukpukpumini, celebrated
annually by Ubie community at the beginning
of farming season #NigerDelta