Voice of Imo-West plus

The Story Of Attah Ameh Oboni - the Nigerian King who Chose Su***de Instead of Bowing to the Queen of England.

Attah Ameh Oboni was a revered Igala King.

At a particular meeting held in Kaduna which consisted of all paramount traditional rulers in Nigeria and which had the queen of England in attendance, Attah Ameh was asked to remove his cap to greet the Queen of England as others had done.

Though he refused until they said he should leave the meeting if he would not remove his cap. But Attah was not like others, or was he?

It was a taboo for Attah to remove his cap in the public. The entire hall where they were staying was occupied by swan of bees which emanates from the cap of Attah Ameh Oboni which he removed in order to greet the Queen.

The Queen of England as well as other rulers in the meeting ran helter-skelter except the friendly Oba of Benin who was asked by Attah Ameh to go out before he removed his cap. The hall became empty as some were stung by the bees and the meeting ended.

According to history, Attah Ameh Oboni was asked to be arrested and handcuffed by the security people, which they did, but the handcuffs fell off his hands.

He was later locked up in a room on the instruction of the Northern rulers and guarded by the security personnel but only to find out later by the personnel that he had left the room. Yes, when the security were taking him to be locked up, he told his driver, Amanabo of blessed memory, to take the car and be going to Idah while the security locked him in the room.

He then warned Amanabo not to look back until he felt a cool breeze in the car. Though Amanabo argued a little that he cannot leave the Attah there but later obeyed and started driving back to Idah from Kaduna.

After some time, he felt the cool breeze in the car, and Attah Ameh was sitted inside the car.

The incident in the meeting made many traditional rulers which were mostly northerners to be angry especially making kings run in such a manner because of bees.

This became one important sin, and it was like “one sin too many”.

The queen of Englnad was also not happy and they (the Queen and northern leaders) started looking for a way to remove Attah Ameh from the throne since he was getting tougher and uncontrollable like others, as well as searching for an obedient replacement.

Igala has various cultural festivals, one of which is Ocho. Ocho is celebrated before farming starts, and it is the time that Attah Igala prays to God for sufficient rainfall, bountiful harvest, success in hunting. It is celebrated in the bush and the venue is called Ere-ocho, where the Attah will hunt until he kills a Buffalo or a strong animal. The community in Idah where Ocho takes place is called Ogo-Efa. He performs a little sacrifice to the ancestors using a fowl in the process, and this was to find out if there will blessings or problems in the land after the Ocho.

Before this time, the enemies at home (among the Igala people), especially those having connections with the leaders of the northern region, were working hard to get any evidence either true or false which can be used to remove him from the throne. The blood of the animal used as sacrifice at Ocho ground now became what the enemies would use against him.

Petition was written by these two Igala people to the Queen and some other Northern leaders that Attah Ameh was sacrificing humans during the Ocho festivals. Since they were looking for any means to displace him with, judgment was quickly passed that he must be dethroned, even when investigations were not yet concluded.

In addition, all the Igala cultural festivals including the Ocho were immediately banned and this remained for almost 63 years until Governor Yahaya Bello unbanned them based on the appeal of the present Attah Igala.

Already, before this time, the Oba of Benin who had such friction with the British had already been dethroned and banished from Benin. So, Attah Ameh Oboni knew that at that point, no matter what spiritual approach applied, it can only postpone the evil day as his enemies will never relent until he was removed by them.

The result of the blood sample which was taken from the Ocho venue and taken to University of Ibadan for analysis had arrived and it was proved that it was the blood of an animal and not human. Sadly, the revered King, Attah Ameh had passed on before the result was brought.

But Attah Ameh, being very sure that he was wrongly accused and framed up by his enemies, especially those from Igala who wrote the petition against him marking the beginning of his planned dethronement, made some pronouncements before his death.

He was allegedly quoted to have said that ” the person who wrote the petition against him would have that hand dried up, and that the leader of the gang or petitioners would be buried three times”. And they all came to pass.

While the hand dried as said, the other was buried as stated, first was the leg, second was his hand and the third was himself, all buried at various times at different locations.

In addition, as this information of his dethronement was given to him in a meeting from where he was supposed to go back to Idah and prepare to leave the throne, he stopped on the way in another Igala land called Dekina.

That was where he committed su***de.

Before taking his life, he was allegedly quoted to have said that the town, Dekina will be popular but its development will not be as much as its popularity.

He was also quoted to have said that because Igala was the genesis of his ordeal, there will be disunity among the Igala people until the reign of his own blood (son) as Attah, and all Igalas irrespective of their locations will be reunited again.

I think from the reconnection and reunification of Igala people across Nigeria and beyond which has been going on and still going on under the reign of his son, Agabaidu Idakwo Ameh Oboni II, the present Attah Igala, that pronouncement of reunification of Igala people is also coming through.

I am not sharing this information to fuel your hatred for western civilization but,

This metal mask was worn during slavery for 3 main reasons:

1- To avoid slaves eating fruit like apples, pineapples, oranges, cashews, bananas, sugar, etc.. while harvesting them, however they were forced to work consistently on all plantation farms.

2- To stop slaves from singing their African spiritual songs. Not only spiritual songs also those of war, thus affecting slave masters, as they would motivate them to rebel and fight.

3- Lest they teach their children the African local dialects (languages), forcing them to learn foreign languages.

Sometimes slave masters would stick an apple in the mouth of enslaved before wearing the metal mask and locking the padlocks so they couldn't talk.

This is just one of the thousands of inhuman treatments our ancestors went through for centuries at the hands of those invaders who gave us Christianity and the religions of mental slavery and brutally forced divisions on Africans.

Proud to be an African.

Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu's Port - Harcourt house in the background.

Ken Saro - Wiwa seized it as Abandoned Property and lived in it until he was prosecuted and executed for murder ... Ken Saro - Wiwa and children

● Victor Wilberforce

THE STORY OF OYOTUNJI: A YORUBA (West Africa) KINGDOM IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 🇺🇲

Oyotunji African Village is a village located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina that was founded by Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I in 1970. Oyotunji village is named after the Oyo empire, a pre-colonial Yoruba kingdom lasting from the 1300s until the early 1800s in what is now southwestern Nigeria. The name literally means “O̩yo̩ returns” or “O̩yo̩ rises again” or “O̩yo̩ resurrects” referring to the African Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, now rising in a new form near the South Carolina seashore.

Oyotunji village covers 27 acres (11 ha) and has a Yoruba temple which was moved from Harlem, New York to its present location in 1960. It was originally intended to be located in Savannah, Georgia, but was eventually settled into its current position after disputes with neighbors in Sheldon proper, over drumming and tourists.

HOW OBA EFUNTOLA ADEFUNMI I FOUNDED OYOTUNJI

During the slave trade era, many Africans were taken as slaves abroad. While going, some left with their culture and tradition which they continued within the foreign land where they found themselves. They continued with the culture and tradition of their fathers so as to maintain their identity.

The Yorubas in slavery are among the Africans that maintained their culture in the strange land and it was handed down to their children from generation to generation.

Many of their children, after the abolition of the slave trade, have married children of their former masters thus having children of mixed blood, that notwithstanding, they still carry on with their African culture in the foreign land since most of them cannot trace their root back to Africa.

The Yoruba culture has been one of the prominent and most celebrated one throughout the world till date. In the faraway United States of America, there is a Yoruba community named O̩yo̩tunji African Village. It is located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina.

O̩yo̩tunji is regarded as North America’s oldest authentic African village. It was founded in 1970 and is the first intentional community in North America, based on the culture of the Yoruba and Benin tribes of West Africa.

It has survived 51years of sustaining the Yoruba traditional sociology and values in the diaspora. The village is named after the O̩yo̩ Empire, and the name literally means “O̩yo̩ returns” or “O̩yo̩ rises again” or “O̩yo̩ resurrects”. The village occupies 27 acres of land.

O̩yo̩tunji was founded by His Royal Highness O̩ba (King) Waja, O̩funto̩la Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I.

Born Walter Eugene King on October 5, 1928, Oba O̩funto̩la Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, a Detroit native, began studying Afro-Haitian and ancient Egyptian traditions as a teenager. He was further influenced by his contact with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe in New York City at the age of 20, an African American modern dance troupe that drew from many cultures within the African Diaspora.

August 26, 1959, O̩ba Waja became the first African born in America to become fully initiated into the Oris̩a-Vodoo African priesthood by African Cubans in Matanzas, Cuba, and became known as Efuntola Osejiman Adefunmi. After his return to the United States, he formed the Yoruba Temple in Harlem in 1960. The temple, committed to preserving African traditions within an American context, was the cultural and religious forerunner of Oyotunji Village.

He later traveled to Haiti where he discovered more about the Yoruba culture. Armed with a new understanding of the African culture, he found the order of Damballah Hwedo, Ancestor Priests in Harlem New York.

This marked the beginning of the spread of the Yoruba religion and culture among African-Americans. He later founded the Sàngó Temple in New York and incorporated the African Theological Arch Ministry in 1960. The Sàngó Temple was relocated and renamed the Yoruba Temple.

With the rise of black nationalism in the 1960s, King began to envision the construction of a separate African American nation that would institutionalize and commemorate ancestral traditions. In June of 1970, he fulfilled this vision with the creation of Oyotunji African Village.

It was during this time that he also established a new lineage of the priesthood, Orisha Vodoo, to emphasize the tradition’s African roots. Today, over 300 priests have been initiated into this lineage and the African Theological Archministry, founded by Oba O̩funto̩la Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I in 1966, now serves as the umbrella organization for the Village.

To further his knowledge of Yoruba culture, he traveled to Abeokuta in Nigeria in 1972 where he was initiated into the Ifa priesthood by the Oluwo of Ije̩un at Abeokuta, Ogun state, in August of 1972. He was later proclaimed Alase̩ (Oba-King) of the Yoruba of North America at O̩yo̩tunji Village in 1972.

In its early years, Oyotunji Village was home to as many as two hundred people. Today, its residential community consists of few African American families, governed by an oba (king) and the community’s appointed council.

Each family is committed to the teachings of the Yoruba tradition, which include a religious understanding of the world as comprised primarily of the “energies” of the Supreme Being Olodumare, the orisha deities, and the ancestral spirits. This religious world is maintained spiritually through rituals, chants, music, sacrifice, and annual ceremonies.

Oba Efuntola Osejiman Adefunmi passed away on Thursday, February 10th, 2005 at O̩yo̩tunji African Village in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Since Adefunmi’s death in 2005, the village has been led by his son, the fourteenth of twenty-two children of Oba Efuntola Osejiman Adefunmi, till date.

The O̩ba title is referred to as “O̩lo̩yotunji” of O̩yo̩tunji.

THE STORY OF THE BLOODY BENDERS

When we think of 19th century serial killers, we invariably think, first, of Jack the Ripper, then maybe H.H. Holmes, Burks and Hare, or Madame Delphine Lalaurie, all of which silently operated in central hubs, or large industrialized population centers throughout the world. However, in America's heartland, literally in the middle of nowhere, operated not just one serial killer, but a family of 4. Meet the Bloody Benders of Labette County, Kansas.

After the re-settlement of the Osage Indians, across the border into Oklahoma, Labette County was carved out of southeastern Kansas in 1867. Kansas had become a state only 6 years earlier, and SE Kansas was the most attractive part of the state just off the eastern edge of the Great Plains. While the Osage had attempted to hold on to most of their lands, after the Homestead Act of 1862 the region was flooded with European immigrants and was eventually forced to give up their remaining lands. The county experienced a population increase of 128% from 1870 to 1880, rising from just under 10,000 to over 22,000. Among the early immigrants were a German family, the Benders, who settled in the northwest part of the County, about 7 miles NE of the town of Cherryvale.

The Benders settled on 160 acres facing the Osage Mission-Independence Trail, the main route linking Independence, Kansas and the Osage Mission, a catholic mission set up to facilitate relations with the Osage Tribe, a distance of about 50 miles. The trail cut across the northwestern edge of Labette County. The men arrived first, in October of 1870, along with 4 other European families, to claim their 160 acres and build their cabin, a one room16 X 24-foot building, that was divided into two by a curtain made of canvas from their wagon. The back of the house was the living quarters, while the front of the house would serve as a dining area, and small general store.

John Bender, Sr., the patriarch of the family was around 60 years of age, while John, Jr was around 25 years old. While Jr. was fluent in English, his father was not, and what he could speak was barely comprehendible due to a heavy German accent. According to the legend, John, jr. may have been simple minded, and would often fall into a spate of laughter, for no reason at all. He was also believed to have traveled along the portion of the Trail, near their cabin, recruiting customers for their business. They were joined, within a year by Elvira Bender, the family matriarch, aged 55, and the daughter Kate, the youngest, at about 23 years old. Elvira, not fluent in English, attained a reputation as having a nasty disposition, acquiring the nickname of "She-Devil". Kate was the darling of the family, a charming young woman, thought to have psychic healing abilities and knowledgeable in the occult. She was easy on the eyes, fluent in English, and had charismatic social skills, which she was thought to have used to lure travelers to the Inn. She also held lectures around the area, on Free Love and her psychic abilities.

The first sign that something was amiss was the discovery of the body of a man in Drum Creek, southeast of the Bender property, in May of 1871. The victim, identified as Mr. Jones, had suffered a severe head wound, along with having his throat slashed. An investigation that seemed to indicate that the Benders were not suspects, at this time. Less than a year later, in February of 1872, the bodies of two unidentified men, were also discovered, both bearing similar wounds to the first victim. By December of that year, 4 more men had vanished, Ben Brown from Howard County, Kansas, army infantryman W.F McCrotty, Henry McKenzie of Indiana, and Johnny Boyle of Howard County. John Geary, Red Smith, and Abigail Roberts, all of unknow origins, had also disappeared, while the bodies of 4 unidentified men were found in Drum Creek, crushed skulls and slashed throats. A number of body parts, none belonging to the missing men, were also come upon, indicating the remains of at least three more victims. Traffic along the Trail slowed considerably, as travelers began to avoid that portion of the trail. Posses were formed, to seek out the culprit responsible but nothing was ever discovered.

Late in 1872, George Newton Longcor, out of Independence, Kansas, following the death of his wife, decided to relocate to Iowa, along with his 18-month-old daughter, Mary Ann. After purchasing a team of horses and a wagon from his neighbor, Dr. Willam York, he set out on his journey. Several months later, his team of horses, somewhat emaciated, as well as his wagon showed up in Fort Scott, Kansas, almost 100 miles to the northeast. There was no sign of either Longcor or his infant daughter. After hearing of the discovery, Dr. York traveled to Fort Scott to identify the team and rig, and to investigate the disappearance of his neighbor, questioning residents along the route. Sometime along the return journey, in March of 1873, York disappeared, as well.

What distinguished the disappearance of William York from the other victims was the prominence of the Doctor's family. One brother, Alexander M. York was a member of the Kansas state senate, while another, Edward York, was an army colonel based in Fort Scott. Following the disappearance of his brother, Colonel York initiated an investigation of the numerous disappearances and organized a search party consisting of some 50 men. Interviews with surrounding residents, led York to the Bender Inn, though nothing became of it, as the family suggested that York look into a remote area around Drum Creek, where John Jr. reported being fired upon around the same time Dr. York was supposed to have disappeared. However, a subsequent report of a woman, a fellow spiritualist who had visited the Benders to talk with Kate, caused the Colonel to return to the Inn in April of 1873. According to the report Ma Bender threatened the woman with both, knife and a gun, forcing the woman off the property. When the Colonel and his men confronted her, the elderly woman kicked the posse out, revealing her true nature, as well as the fact that she was more fluent in English than she had previously let on. In an attempt to quell any suspicion, Kate Bender offered to use her abilities as a psychic to locate the grave of the Colonel's brother the following Friday, as long as York returned with fewer men.

At about this time, nearby communities began to report that the Osage Indians may have been involved in the disappearances, so a meeting was held to address the new revelation. Both male members of the Bender clan were present at the community gathering at the Harmony Grove Schoolhouse, where a decision was made to search all residences between Big Hill Creek and Drum Creek. Later in the week a neighbor of the family, Billy Tole, noticed that the animals of the Benders were either starving or dead. Township Officer Leroy Dick investigated, only to find that the property had been abandoned. He also discovered a trap door underneath a bed, which had been nailed shut, that had a strong smell of death emanating from it. Dick went back to Harmony Grove to gather more men to help search the property, and the team returned, armed with axes and shovels.

The ensuing search unveiled a blood-soaked root cellar beneath the trap door. While no bodies were found beneath the house, excavations of the surrounding garden and apple orchard, led to the discovery of William York, in a shallow grave, with mortal wounds similar to the victims found earlier. Several more victims, all with comparable wounds, were also dug up, as well as the remains of a young girl, who was apparently buried alive. All, except the girl, was buried n**e and showed evidence of ge***al mutilation. Partial remains of other victims were also discovered.

Investigators concluded the same modus operandi was used on almost all victims. Kate would use her charm, and possible more, to disarm the men and to get them to reveal the amount of money that they carried. The "guests of honor" would be given the seat at the head of the table, with their backs to the canvas curtain. John Sr, hiding behind the curtain. would strike the victims with a large hammer. The victims then had their throats cut. Bullets holes discovered in the cabin, indicated that some victims may have somehow fought back. The bodies would then be thrown into the root cellar, to be buried later, at night, to avoid detection. The proximity to the Osage reservation allowed the Benders to sell the horses, wagons, and other personal property of the victims without raising suspicion. There were eleven confirmed victims, and as many as 10 more being suspected.

Evidence around the cabin also revealed things were not quite as it seemed. John Bender, Sr. may actually have been John Flickinger from Germany or the Netherlands. Elvira was probably a woman by the name of Almira Mark, born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains of western New York state. A family bible revealed that John Jr's real name to be John Gephardt, and may have been married to Kate, who was the fifth daughter of Elvira/Almira, Eliza Griffith. Some reports indicate that Almira Mark may have murdered at least two previous husbands, Simon Mark and William Griffith, both by severe blunt force trauma to the back of the head.

The immediate search, following the discoveries at the Inn, lead the authorities to the Benders' abandoned horses in Thayer, Kansas., 12 miles away and boarded a train to Kansas City, Missouri, via Humbolt, Kansas, though Kate and John Jr are suspected as having disembarked in Chanute KS and switched to a train bound for Texas. The couple remained missing until resurfacing in Colorado in 1878. The elder Benders, appear to have continued on to Kansas City, Missouri, bound for St. Louis. A reward for their capture was offered by Kansas state Senator, Alexander York and Kansas governor, Thomas Osborne, but no one ever collected it. Though there are no known arrests of the family, 12 local men were arrested as accessories, including neighbors Addison Roach and his son in law, William Buxton, for helping to sell property of the victims. All told, the Benders are believed to have stolen $4600.00 total, plus an unknown amount from the sale of victims' personal property

The fate of the Benders is unknown. In Michigan 1889, two women, named Almira Monroe and Sara Eliza Davis were arrested and suspected of being Elvira and Kate Bender, but after being extradited back to Labette County, authorities could not confirm their identities. Unproven reports also tell of John J. and Kate, settling in Colorado, where John died of apoplexy in 1888 and was buried in Linwood cemetery, Glenwood Springs. Kate lived until 1917, as a successful tavern proprietor, leaving just enough tantalizing clues as to her identity to not get arrested. Two accounts of John Sr. have him meeting his end in the mountain west region, including one gruesome report in which he bled out after severing a foot while trying to escape from a jail. There are more than a few accounts of the family getting caught be vigilantes, after their discovery, including one in which three were shot dead, while Kate was burned alive. While no one ever claimed a reward, two men made deathbed confessions of being part of a group that killed the family.

On December 26th in the year 1908, an igbo man called nduka from Anambra, always with his eriri ozo on his legs, popularly known as Jack Johnson became the first African American World Heavyweight Boxing Champion by knocking out Tommy Burns. For years America would not show this image of a blackman knocking out a wh!te man.
Igbo to the world

A 16th century painting showing the skinning alive of a corrupt judge, Sisamnes, in the year 500BC.
Sisamnes was a corrupt royal judge at the time of Cambyses ll in Persia.

It was discovered that he took a bribe in court and passed an unfair judgement. As a consequence the king ordered that he be arrested for his corruption and ordered that he be skinned alive. Before passing judgement the king asked Sisamnes who he wished to nominate as his successor. Sisamnes, in his greed, chose his son, Otanes.

The king agreed and appointed Otanes to replace his father. He subsequently passed judgement and ordered that Sisamnes removed skin should be used to upholster the seat on which the new judge would sit in court to remind him of the potential consequences of corruption.

Otanes, in his deliberations, was forced to always remember that he was always sitting on the skin of his executed father. This helped to ensure fairness and equity in all his hearings, deliberations and sentences.

ODOGO - The First Storey building in Nigeria. An Igala military tower, Idah, Kogi state.

It is believed that the storey building in Idah was built 629 years ago in the year 1391, while that in Badagry was built 176 years ago 1845.

It was then concluded that the storey building of the Igala nation in Idah is the first storey building in Nigeria, and not the one in Badagry built 176 years after.

Before the colonization of Africa by the Europeans, Igala kingdom had its own organized governing structure which covers Justice, economy, security, entertainment, and many other aspects that makes up a nation.

The Igala security comprises of Navy, Soldiers, and local Police.

As part of military tactics, the first storey building in Nigeria was constructed centuries ago in ancient Idah. This security tower was built in the Attah of Igala’s palace to monitor the four cardinal points direction of the palace against enemies.

Is has been known that no enemy takes Idah nor Igala nation unaware without being spotted from afar, and then prevented.

The tower is called Odo-ogo, which translates to “the wall beside the deep valley”.

The top of the tower is meant to be manned by Igala Soldiers who are fixed at the top of the building to keep watch of the surrounding against enemy attack.

Odo-ogo tower was built during the reign of Abutu Ejeh who was the Attah of Igala land after the palace was relocated from Opuata to it’s present location near Ubiogba cliff.

While the top of Odo-ogo serves as a watchtower, the ground floor is used for some special purposes in the palace. Just like in the ancient Egypt, the resting place of any Attah of Igala who joined the ancestors is at the bottom of guarding tower.

Similar to the procedures used by the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, the traditional mortuary before burial, the similar processes take place before any transited Attah moves to other world completely.

In modern day Idah, the ancient security tower is now a holy ground and people can’t go near it except those in charge of the monument. It is no longer used for the initial purpose of watching over Palace due to high population in Idah and expansion of the area, hence, other security methods have replaced that mode.

This is one of the historical spots of Igala Kingdom and could serve as a tourist center in Kogi state and Nigeria as a whole.

The entire building has remained intact for centuries since the days of Abutu Ejeh, the roof and walls have been untouched and have endured and resisted harsh weather conditions over the years.

A visit to the Attah Igala’s palace can give you a glimpse of the tower from a distance.

"ILE ORO”

The poisonous ancient armoury in Egbe, Kogi state.

Is is believed that if a fly enters and comes out of the amoury and then perch on someone’s skin, the person might die of poison and charm.

The structure is an ancient method used to dispose off unwanted war devices. More like a nuclear waste.

Ile Oro came into existence during the Nupe raids on some parts of Yoruba Land.

The monument is about 12 feet tall and well sealed.
It hasn’t been opened since the last war.

It is poisonous, they use it to soak the arrows meant to fight the Nupe war in the early 19s.

Nobody worships the structure. It is only a disposable warfare poison that no body has figured out how to relocate or dispose.

Also there are sentiments surrounding it and the heroic nature of victory recorded in that fiercy war.

During the war, Egbe suffered many casualties at first, but after the development of these poison, Egbe side started having upper hand until the Nupe Aggressors, also known as Tapa retreated.

Who knows there may be some science in there.

But one thing is sure, Ile Oro is one of the Ancient war amories in Nigeria, and one of the places to visit for tourism if you’re in Kogi state.

Women of the MURSI tribe
The Mursi tribe settled in the Omo river valley (Ethiopia) It is estimated that the tribe currently has fewer than 10,000 members.

Believe it or not. ... Idi Amin Dada sent love letters to the Q.ueen of E.ngland and asked her to marry him.

He wanted to be the King of S.cotland.

He declared himself the "Conqueror of the British Empire" and the "Last King of S.cotland," after Britain severed diplomatic ties with Uganda 🇺🇬 in July 1976.

If the Q.ueen of England had accepted his proposal, the direction of that relationship would have brought about the unification of E.uropean and African p.rotectorates.

He even ordered British to carry him.🤣