25/10/2025
The Hidden Igbos Of Edo State: The Igbanke Story And The Forgotten Eastern Heritage
When you drive through the Orhionmwon axis of Edo State, the red earth, rolling farmlands and friendly faces look typically Midwestern. But listen carefully, the language spoken in homes, markets, and shrines carries a familiar rhythm: “Kedu? Ị bụ onye ebee?”
That’s the Igbo language spoken not in Enugu or Anambra, but deep inside Edo State.
Welcome to Igbanke, the most prominent Igbo-speaking community in Edo, and one of the many forgotten outposts of the ancient Igbo civilization.
Igbanke is not a single town. It is a proud federation of six autonomous communities:
Omolua, Ake, Igbontor, Ottah, Idumuiru and Olije.
Together, they form a cultural enclave of pure Igbo heritage within Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
The people of Igbanke speak an unmistakably Igbo dialect, celebrate the New Yam Festival, and bear traditional Igbo names such as Nwokeoma, Ifeanyi, Nkemdilim, Chukwuma, Ogochukwu amongst others.
Their marriage rites, burial customs and community titles are identical to those of Enugu and Anambra, revealing the undeniable truth: they are Igbo by blood, culture and history, only separated by modern state lines drawn by British and Nigerian geopolitics.
Historically, the people of Igbanke traced their roots to migrations from ancient Igbo settlements in what is today Enugu and Anambra States.
Centuries ago, waves of Igbo migrants crossed the Niger River in search for greener pastures and safety during inter-communal wars. Some settled at Agbor, others at Igbanke.
Their settlement grew into what became known as Igbanke today, “Igbo nke” (literally meaning ‘that which is Igbo’), a name that in itself confirms their ethnic origin.
Over time, the British colonial map-makers lumped Igbanke under the old Benin Province, and later, into Edo State after Nigeria’s state creation. The result was an administrative displacement, a people politically classified as “Edo,” but culturally and linguistically Igbo.
Despite their clear Igbo identity, the Igbanke people have faced decades of cultural erasure and political marginalization.
Their language is often dismissed as “Edo-Igbo,” and their identity questioned by both sides considered too Igbo for Edo, and too Edo for mainstream Igbo society yet, they stand firm. Thanks to the Igbo Unification Team and the good people of Igbanke who have recently risen, and told the public that they are Igbo, not Bini.
Every August, they celebrate the Iri Ji (New Yam Festival) with traditional dancers, masquerades, and elders invoking Chukwu (God) in pure Igbo prayers.
In family compounds, ancestral shrines are maintained, kola nuts are broken with “onye wetere oji, wetere ndụ!” and the old songs of the East echo through Edo’s red earth.
In recent years, a strong cultural awakening has emerged among Igbanke sons and daughters worldwide through the Igbanke National Union (INU) and Igbanke Progressive Assembly.
They have launched campaigns to preserve their language, document their history, and demand official recognition as indigenous Igbo people.
Cultural advocates argue that historical documents, oral records, and linguistic evidence all affirm that Igbanke was part of the old Igbo civilization long before Nigeria’s artificial boundaries.
Many Igbanke intellectuals now partner with Igbo historians and Biafran cultural researchers to reconnect their heritage to the larger Igbo identity, amongst which of recent, many of them reached out to me via my page, Biafra Historical Facts, declaring their igboness and readiness to be reintegrated into the wider Igbo community.
The plight of Igbanke exposes a larger truth about Nigeria that colonial borders divided one people into many states, forcing them to live dual identities.
While they contribute to Edo politics and pay allegiance to Benin’s traditional structure, they also maintain deep fraternal ties with neighboring Igbo communities in Delta and Anambra.
For many Igbanke youths, the dream is simple: to be accepted, respected, and remembered as what they are Igbos of Edo State.
From the rhythms of the ogene drum to the familiar laughter of the women in the market, Igbanke remains Igbo at heart.
Their heritage is not fading it is fighting its way back into history, through storytelling, documentation and cultural revival.
One Igbanke elder once said: “Ọ bụrụ na anyị echefu ebe anyị si bịa, anyị agaghị ama ebe anyị na-aga.”
“If we forget where we came from, we’ll never know where we are going.”
The indigenous Igbo communities of Edo State led by the historic town of Igbanke stand today as living witnesses of a divided nation and an enduring identity.
They are the bridge between the Southeast and the Midwest, a proof that Igbo civilization is not a place, but a people.
Their story deserves to be told loudly, proudly, and without apology.
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