(They're descendants of Eri)
Oral traditional history traces the origin of IGALA to Aguleri in present day Anambra State. It's in history that Eri who's generally accepted as the founder of Igbo people once settled at the bank of the river where he made an altar of onyx at the confluence of Ezu na Omabala rivers. Due to annual flooding of the place Eri moved upland to Eri-aka near odanduli stream and finally to where he erected Obu Uga (Obu-Gad). Eri had the following children;
Agulu (Aguleri) OKPARA or Opara
Attah (IGALA) Ulu-okpara
Oba (BENIN) Osote-Ulu-Okpara
Menri (Nri)
Adamgbo (Iguedo the only daughter of Eri)
All the children of Eri lived together with their father in Aguleri until after the death of Eri.
when he (Eri) died, his offsprings departed the land and founded various offshoots and kingdoms across the Niger River but not without disagreements.
As it has always been in Igbo tradition, when a father dies, the first son, called OKPARA inherits the land and properties belonging to the father and decides who to share it with. Now Atta the second son called Ulu-okpara was a very huge, tall and feared man amongst Eri's children, he was not pleased with this decision and went on to contest it, an action that caused the first Eri-Ògú (fight).
After his defeat, Attah the second son of Eri left and founded Igala kingdom, the present day Idah (East confluence of the niger Rivers) while Oba moved to found Benin (Igodomigodo Idu) . Menri later left Aguleri where he founded Nri kingdom (a kingdom described as the land of peace and solace to those ostracized in faraway land). Eri first son Agulu-eri (Aguleri) remained behind and inherited his father's land and expanded the kingdom.
Forget the corrupted words, infusion of Yoruba and Hausa's who later invaded the IGALA land and assimilated them.
This events took place Before Common Era (BCE) and not (AD) and It's a well known oral history amongst the true IGALA people. I will prove it in my next article.
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