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Edda Egbebu, also known as the Edda, are a sub-group of the Igbo people in south-eastern Nigeria. The land and people of Edda have been constitutionally designated the present day Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Information on the Edda and their immediate neighbors has survived, barely, through a combination of folklore and an elaborate and highly ritualized priest-kingship evolved by the people; hence, the variations in accounts. The oral interviews reflected in this study are subject to debate and criticism. They commence with respondents’ opinions on the migration of Edda people and other “Clans” they interacted with prior to settling on their present site. ==Oral Interviews with Neighbours and Non-Edda Indigenes== Eze Aro of Arochukwu (now deceased), the longest reigning monarch in Igbo land stated that Edda people lived initially at Afia Isagha Orie with the Arochukwu people (Aros). The two clans were said to be of the same ancestral father, Eze Oke Mgbom who begat Imo Eze (father of the Edda) and Oti Eze (father of the Aros.〔Eze Kanu Oji (1986)〕 According to the monarch, the Edda left for their present settlement, through Ohafia, mainly in search of more fertile land for agricultural purposes. On leaving Afia Isagha Orie, he went on, the Edda settled successively at Okoni Ohafia, Amangwu Ohafia, Ukwukwa Okagwe Ohafia and finally Ugwu Nzu- now known as Nguzu, the traditional headquarters of Edda. A community leader in Isieke Ibeku suggests that a group known as Elugwunta once inhabited the present location of Isieke Ibeku and following some misunderstanding ending in deaths, the survivors left through Bende for the present-day Abam, Ohafia and Edda. These three groups are one and the same people: while they had a common father – Eze Oke – Abam and Ohafia were of the same mother.〔Gabriel Nwaubani Nwanko (1986)〕 Another community leader and scholar, Chief K.O.K. Onyioha of Nkporo, in his contribution, reveals that the oral traditions of his people posit the Edda, Abam and Ohafia descended from three brothers – Egbebu, Onyerubi Abam and Uduma Eze respectively. These three groups once lived together in Isieke Ibeku, but left for Arochukwu after some disagreements with the earlier settlers, Elugwunta. The Elugwunta had accused the new-comers of killing their war dogs and a fight ensued which forced the departure of the Edda, Abam and Ohafia.〔Chief K.O.K. Onyioha (1986)〕 After a while, the Edda separated from the other two groups which in turn subsequently broke off and headed to their present locations. Chief Onyioha adds that it was from the Ohafia that the Ututu emerged later, and that the Arochukwu Clan boasted of able-bodied young men and women of Abam, Edda, Nkporo and Ohafia origin who were settled there to act as buffer against the incessant attacks and invasion of the Ibibio of the south-east. The praise name Aro Oke Igbo refers to the Aros situated between the Igbo and non-Igbos. Another scholar, Mazi Iro Uche of Ohafia contends that the Ohafia people met the Edda on their way from Adoni to Benin and the two groups continued together to Ibeku. In the wake of the incident of the war dogs, the Ohafia were said to have migrated further east, while the Edda moved south-east.〔Mazi Iro Uche (1986)〕 The Ohafia and Edda were to meet again a few years later. This time around, the Ohafia asked the Edda to wait while they surveyed the area for settlement, but never returned to reveal their findings. After a long wait, the Edda sensed danger and moved off to present-day Arochukwu. They settled with the Aros, but later migrated to their present location through Ohafia under the leadership of Imo Eze. Yet another traditional scholar, Amos Dike of Amaeke Abam deposes that the Abam, Edda and Ohafia were great grandchildren of Chima Ife. The Abam people were the children of Onyerubi Eze (who was the eldest of Eze Oke’s children) followed by Uduma Eze (father of Ohafia) and Imo Eze (father of the Edda).〔Amos Dike (1986)〕 All of them were said to have left Benin for Ibeku and subsequently a location near Igwu River. From there, Onyerubi Eze could not move any further due to his wife’s advanced pregnancy. She had gone into a nearby bush and soon gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. He went into the bush to check on her and on seeing the situation, decided to settle in that place with some people. On enquiry about his whereabouts, his brothers were told he had gone into a safe bush to seek his wife. The group that stayed back became known as Abam (Ibayi Abayi). Others moved a bit further where the Ohafia settled at Elu Ohafia from where the rest of the Ohafia villages dispersed. On their part, the Edda forged ahead through Okagwe Ohafia to their present settlement. These three Clans were very close and their blood ties enabled them rally together to declare and prosecute wars. There were instances of atonement for occasional spilling of blood among them. Izu Abam (now Ozu Obam) was the rallying point to discuss serious matters of mutual interest, and from any animal slaughtered to entertain the delegates, the Abam, Ohafia and Edda took the head, jaw and neck in that order. One of the significant features of migration is that no group moves on with all its members nor does any group move without encountering and mixing with some other group or the other. Groups on the move hardly ever forget those they last met or meet next or separated from. There was a possibility though, for real kit and kin to forget some of their own over time, and could be reminded by those who separated from the others at a later date and point. These are the accounts of Edda migratory trends given by non-Edda, but what have the people of Edda said about themselves? The two sets of oral tradition would provide a basis for analysis and perhaps some conclusions as to the origins and relationships of the Edda. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edda people」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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