The Oron people (or Örö people) are a multi-ethnic tribal grouping that make up the Akpakip Oro or Oron Nation. The Oron people (Örö) are located primarily in Southern Nigeria, in the riverine area of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State and in Cameroon. Akpakip Oro are regarded as an ancient warrior people, speaking the Oron (Oro) language which is in the Cross River language family of the Benue–Congo languages. They are ancestrally related to the Efik people of the Cross River State, the Ibeno and Eastern Obolo (ie Adoni East) in Akwa Ibom, the Andoni people in Rivers State, Ohafia in Abia State and the Balondo-ba-Konja in the Congo.
The geopolitical restructuring of states and local government within Nigeria has seen the egalitarian society of the Oron Nation being fragmented politically in the Niger Delta. They have been divided across two separate Nigerian states, the Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state, and then into five local government areas (LGAs) within the Akwa Ibom state, namely Oron LGA (Oron Central), Okobo, Udung Uko, Mbo, and Urue Ofong/Oruko Local Government Areas.
The Oron Nation is usually called by its members as Oro Ukpabang; Akpakip Oro; or Oro Ukpabang Okpo. These names are derived from their ancestral father Abang Okpo. The Akpakip Oro are made up of nine clans known as Afaha.
History
Akpakip Oro is a multi-ethnic nation which is made up of six groups: Oron Ukpabang Okobo Idua (Asang) Enwang Ebughu Otong Efiat/Mbo
The earliest known reference to the Oron Nation is from the 24th century BC, around 2370 BC, according to evidence from ancient Oron ancestral carvings, the Ekpu Oro, found today in the Oron Museum and other museums around the world (specifically National Museum of China). Some of the finest wooden statuary attributed to Oron peoples are beautifully carved Ekpu (ancestral figures). Many of these were destroyed and removed from Nigeria during the Biafran war in the late 1960s.
Ekpu Oro ancestral figures existed as summaries of the personal and social experiences of the Oron people of Southeastern Nigeria. They embodied Oron spiritual beliefs and cultural history; hence, they were vessels for the spirits of the dead that instilled great influence over the daily, religious, and social lives of the living.Book https://www.abebooks.com/9780951814154/Ekpu-Oron-Ancestor-Figures-South-095181415X/plp by Nicklin, Keith Published by Horniman Museum (2000) As an art form, Ekpu held the key to understanding Oron past tradition that was largely destroyed by colonial and Christian presence in Oron society.Book Embodied-in-Ekpu-Figurines-of-the-Oron-People by Onyile, Onyile Bassey dt 2007
Natives of this area speak the dialect also known as Oro language. Most Oron people also speak and understand the Efik language fluently. The Oron also has some dialectical similarities with the Ibibio and Annang people, hence their communication in Ibibio and Annang languages is very proficient.
The Oron people were known to the early Europeans as "Tom Shott people", a term used most commonly in a metaphorical sense to describe something that is resilient and stubborn. The Oron people were against the enslavement of Africans and never sold their kinsmen to the Europeans, so the Oron Nation was named Tom Shotts Town, as seen in several ancient maps dating from the 19th century, drawn by Portuguese and Spanish explorers. The Oron dubbed the Europeans 'Mbátáng', meaning Stealers of men, a description summarising the most prominent feature of the Oron's early contact with Europeans: the newcomers enslaving Africans and taking them to unknown destinations. This name is still in use today.
Neither the Bantu's attire nor any other cultural equivalent anywhere portrays that of Oron language or names. None of Oron Nation culture or names was derived from Bantu or any language elsewhere as immigrant but their clothing was made from loin skirts and gown with beads known as 'Ngwa', their men were clean shaved with an artificial Beard with cap just like the ancient Kemet people, which is seen in several ancient carvings (Ekpu) and as described by Percy Talbot in 1897. Their women plaited hair naturally.
Origin and migration
The predominant paternal haplogroup among the Oron is E1b1a1-M2.M191/P86 positive samples occurred in tested populations of Annang (38.3%), Ibibio (45.6%), Efik (45%), and Igbo (54.3%). The ancestors of the Oron originally came from Northeast Africa and moved around the Green Sahara. The gradual movement of the Proto Oron to the Cross River Region may have been associated with the expansion of Sahel agriculture in the African Neolithic period, following the desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BCE.
Generally, most historians believe that Otong, the putative ancestor of the Ebughu group, 'Ntekim' the putative ancestor of Idua (Asang) group, 'Okobo' the putative ancestor of the Okobo group who is of Obolo ancestry, and Oron Ukpabang group are from the stock of Abang, the Enwangs are of Iboku ancestry; meanwhile the Efiat group is a mixture of Oron, Efik, Ibibio, and the Cameroons ancestry.Uya, p.34
Oron existed in the pre-colonial period of Nigeria and was formerly a part of the province called the South-Eastern state: they were later part of Cross River State and now part of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria.
Oron people acknowledge the fact that the Ibeno, who dwell among the Ekids, share similar ancestral history with them. While the Oron people recognise the Efik people, Obolo people, Ibeno and Ekid people as part of their ancestral family, many controversies state that the relationship of Oron with Ekid is said to have gone sour when the Eket, under the regime of Brigadier General U.J. Esuene, declared and agreed to be called a subgroup of the Ibibio nation to gain political relevance and advantage. U.J. Esuene was also said to have denied the Oron people the opportunity to site the Exxon Mobile's first terminal in Mbo, Akwa Ibom and Effiat Oron areas of Oron Nation.
Another common controversy that describes the worsened relationship between Oron and Eket is the accusation that General Esuene was the one who ordered the bombing of Urue Oruko (Oruko Market), a region at the heart of Oron where several hundred of Oron people (mostly traders and women) were killed during the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. This unfortunate event has been observed in Oron to be the most tragic in the history of the Nigerian Civil War.
The traditional origin and migration pattern of the six multi-ethnic groups that make up Oron Nation are known from oral histories.
Idua (Asang) group Idua (Asang) group is one of the distinct groups that made up Oron Nation. The Idua are a coastal settlement comprising the main four villages of Idua Esit Edik, Idua Asang, Idua Afaha Eduok, and Idua Ukpata. Idua is the first established community in Oron Nation existing around 2370 BC, according to evidence from ancestral carvings.Talbot, p.70
Oral and most popular historical tradition of the Idua people of Oron trace their migration to their present abode from the Andoni, which is also regarded as the main dispersal for some Oron Ukpabang groups. From tradition, after their arrival from Usangale now in Cameroons, Idua people settled at Anyangala in present-day Andoni which was at that time occupied by several groups. In a subsequent dispute over land which broke out and erupted into open war between the Obodom and Okrika people, the Okrika are said to have hired Nkwo warriors to fight on their behalf: repulsed by the 'eat your victim tactics' used by the Nkwo warriors, the Idua people, under by the leadership of their ancestral father Mbaba, left where they settled to settle among the group known as Idua Eket.Kingsley, p.556
It is generally accepted that it was at Eket that the Idua evolved a separate identity of their own. According to Jefferys: "From Idua Eket sprang the Idua Oron. At Idua Eket 'Ntekim' rise as an accepted leader. Tradition as it that at Eket the two migrants broke into two group one heading towards Calabar and the other towards Oron where they founded Esuk Akpa and among others. Since then, till now the Eket and the Idua chiefs always come together in meeting to raise issues that is affecting them."
It is said that three things made the Idua move from Eket: apparently, Ntekim and his followers move in order to find a new fishing ground; secondly, the Idua were drawn into conflicts between one man named Okpo of Atebi-Eket, who was accused of witchcraft but decided to find refuge among the Idua. Subsequently, Ntekim left Ikot Use Ekong with some of his children, namely Odiong, Ntekim, Mba, Abia, Essang, Nta, and Uyi and arrived in today's Oron territory at a place called Anaisong, located between Oruko and Mbukpo-Uko-Akai. Further movement took them to Eyo Ekung Inyang with his followers between Udung Uko and the estuary of the Cross River. Here he established a settlement called Ukpa Ita (now known as Ukpata) after three mahogany trees standing together. History has it that Ntekim and his followers didn't find anyone in the land.Simmons, p.348
Ukpata became the last center of the Idua Oron to their present Villages of Idua Afaha Eduok and Idua Asang. From this centers fishing villages were later established around the Cross River and Atlantic coast, namely Ube Usukpong also known as Ine Nsesiri, Akpando, Esit Akpa Edok, Ine Ekoi, Abana Community and Ine Odiong. The last village to be established was Esit Edik which was to serve as a hideout in times of trouble.
Okobo group Okobo group formed another distinct group of the Oron people, bounded in the north and west by Uruan and Nsit clans of Ibibio, on the south by Oron Ukpabang, and on the east by the western channel of the Cross River. Okobo are divided into two clans 'Eta' and 'Odu', the former consisting of Villages of Ebighi Okobo, Ebighi Edu, Ekeya, Ube community, Nda, Akaba community, Esuk Inwang and Atabong, and the latter by Ebighi Eta, Okopedi, Nung Atai Odobo, Amamong, Obufi and Atipa Odobo.
The most credible and popular history of the Okobo people traces Okobo people to Usahadit in Cameroon; apparently the dispersal post-dated that of the Ukpabang people and not the Idua people. Where they sail out from the Usahadit in raft and landed in Ebughu, they were compelled to move out over dispute over land, they sailed up to Uya Oron creek and landed in present-day Odutin. Okobo stay in the location was brief, as they were forced to leave the area by bands of raiders from the warrior tribe of Ukpabang.
It was this later movement that brought them to Ebighi, named after the first son of Okobo, who was a great warrior who led them from Ebughu. From Ebighi, the Okobo began to sprang over their present location: Odu, another son of Okobo, founded Ube, Ekeya, Nda, Obo, and Akaba. Similarly, Eta and his sons founded Ebighi Eta, Okopedi, Odobo, Nung Atai, and Ammamong.
Some other settlements were founded independently, such as Obufi, formed by a group of refugees from the Obolo clan who decided to settle among their Oron kinsmen during their migration. Another was 'Ataobong', founded by 'Antai Ema' a fugitive from Adabio. As the story goes Antai Ema and his family, who specialized in shell fishing, were constantly attacked by crocodile in his vicinity at Adabio. Frightened by this menace, Antai Ema led his people and family to a place where the Okobo called 'Ataw Obong' (place where cane grows plentifully). Yet another non-Okobo group was Esuk Inwang Ekeya between the border of Ekeya and Ndonebom, which was an Efik trading post made up of Efik, Ibibio, and Okobo traders: over time, it became a major settlement.
Ebughu Otong group Ebughu Otong group, mainly coastal, north of the Mbo river, bounded in the north and northwest by Udung Uko and Udesi respectively. Meanwhile, Nsie and Oduting were found in the hinterland part of Oron.