The History of EGBU. in Owerri, Imo State.

History

According to oral tradition, Egbu existed over a thousand years before the advent of the Europeans. The settlement dates as far back as the 9th century A.D. From genealogical reckoning the great grand father of Egbu was OFO AKURU, the proto - Alaenyi progenitor, who according to records of ethnological studies of Ndigbo, lived in the 6th century A.D. in the forest lands of the present Umuorii Uratta in the Obibi Uratta autonomous community .. Ofo Akuru’s first son was called Ome. According to oral tradition Ome was a polygamist and had many children which included ENYI, EZELUKWU and NNEORIE. Ome according to history was a tactful and peaceful man. His strong control over his large family however marked him out as a strict disciplinarian. 

Enyi became the head of the family after Ome's death and he had five sons namely: IHITTA OGADA, AWAKA, EGBU, OWERRI and NAZE. It must be mentioned that there is another legend that places Owerri as part of Uratta. According to this legend Owerri fled from Uratta having taken the heart of the cow which he bought for his father’s funeral which by tradition belonged to Alum. When his other brothers conspired to kill him, he fled to Ugwu Ekwema to escape the inevitable consequence of his wanton action. 

Enyi’s five sons are called ALAENYI. The five towns that make up Alaenyi have similar traditions and customs which served them as a bond of unity. Enyi like his father Ome maintained the unity of his family. It was after his death that internal rancor hit the unity and solidarity of the sons. Enyis’ children separated and moved to new settlements with their respective children. In spite of geographical movement the said cultural and political affinity was maintained. The early settlement of Enyi and his five sons was at a place called "APU OTU OBO" of Egbu. The tree 'Apu' gave a wonderful shade and provided a rallying centre for relaxation and social entertainment. Houses were built around the Apu tree. The houses were made of sticks, palm fronts, 'Uga' and"Etere”. Egbu, the third son of Enyi was dynamic, witty and highly industrious. He was a polygamist and had three sons; OKOCHI, UBA EZE and UBA. Okochi the first son of Egbu was the father of Ayalu and Okweke. Okweke had a son called Ofeuzo. As a result of the blood relationship between Ayalu and Okweke one can understand the indissoluble ancestral affinity between Ayalu and Ofeuzo till this day. Uba Eze the second son was the father of Mpama and Ofomeje or Umuofo (Umunwahu and Ugama were also kindred’s in Mpama). Uba the third son of Egbu had only one son called lshiuzo. 

Egbu and his large family lived peacefully but after his death sporadic misunderstandings and quarrels led to the dispersion of some members of the family to other lands. These emigrants still maintained close relationship with their kith and kin at Egbu. They continued to attend the famous Egbu cultural festival. "Mgbugbuzo" for a long time. Every Egbu person in Diaspora observed the "Afor" market day which agreed with the "Afor” market day at Egbu. The migration thinned down the population of Egbu and left her with five villages. 

Many factors were responsible for the emigration of some of our people but the dominant factor was the Ihitta Egbu incident. According to oral tradition, a group of Ihitta Egbu people killed one Nwagwu by accident. Embittered and incensed by the incident his brother Oformeje retaliated by killing Odogwu Onyikiri and his pregnant wife. This led to fighting and unrest which eventually caused the emigration of some of our people to distant places namely Egbu Ozuzu, Egbu Oguta and Egbu Nzam.

BY Obioha Egere