TITLE:
THE ESAN And EDO Dispute Origin,
THE UZEA WAR.




The Edo people
Remains the home and Source of majority of the Ethnic groups of south southern Nigeria.

And the Esan people remain the closet kin amongst the various offshoot of The Benin Empire.

With the Oba sitting as the Respected Royal Father,

Honoured by all the independent kings of Esanland.


But there remains a sense of dispute and disunity among the Edos and the Esans

although it is largely historical in Origin it still has a huge impact on the relationship of these two beautiful tribes

I will be putting into Perspective

the Great War that took place between the mighty benin Empire and the kingdom of Uromi in esan land.

Sit tight as I Take you on another ride into African History.




It All began in The Reign of Oba Ewaure the Great, after he lost his two eldest sons on the same day,
a great and terrible tragedy.


He declared a great mourning across his lands and decreed that no one should eat, bath, laugh, have intercouse or drink water for a long period,

Due to this harsh decree a large population of his people migrated out of benin into the hinterlands and rain forest.

And when he asked about their whereabouts the Oba was told "Esan laha " which translated to "they have Left or fled"

Those who fled the kingdom came to be known as Esan

and amongst those who left was a banished prince who came to be known as Ichesan.

He became the first king of Uromi, one of the kingdoms in the just established Esan land.

Banished from benin for being an halfcaste from the affair of Oba Ewaure and a portuoguese woman,

He became king in Uromi with the blessings of his father and the two lands seemed to live in relative peace.



But after Oba Ewaure died he was succeded by three of his sons who ruled consecutivetly.

During the reign of the younguest Prince Okpame who was earlier banished to a villige called Ora for a terrible crime he committed.

Prince Okpame was recalled back and was crowned as Oba Ozolua when his elder brother died without an heir.

Oba Ozolua like his father Ewaure was great warrior and was noted to be bloodthirsty.
Nicknamed Ozolua n Ibaromi
Which means Ozolua the Conqueror.

It is said that during peacful times when their was no War, his bones ached in pain, due to his longing for warfare.


One day,as Oba Ozolua complained of his lack of wars to fight,

A slave in the palace suddenly spoke directly at him.

Asking the reveared Oba that if he sees war whether he could stand it.

The Oba asked the slave to bring go bring him war.

As the slave made his war out of the palace.

The Oba commanded the guard to behead him if he should look back even once.

But if he doesnt, then he is serious and not speaking casually.

The slave never looked back and went immediately to Uromi kingdom in Esan land, where Agba, the son of Ichesan now ruled as King.


The slave presented a white chalk to Agba.

Accepting the chalk would mean accepting the Overlordship of The Oba over his kingdom.

Agba blatanly rejected the Chalk, claiming independence from Benin.

When Oba Ozolua got wind of this,

he set out with his large army against Agba to crush this rebellious kingdom to the ground.

Agba too marched with his armies and met with The benin soldiers at the crossroads of Uzea and the war began.

The benin had a far larger and more organized army and should have easily won the war,

But the Esan soldiers understood the forest and terrain better and used gurellia warfare to stay in the fight..


Agba at one point escaped and hid in the palace of the King of Uzea who was his allie.

But the king of Uzea sought a way to avoid issues with The Oba of benin and end his habouring of Agba.

One day Agba was sitting at the coutyard and witnessed a group of ants attacking a coackroach,

The coakroach escaped and ran towards Agba who threw it back to where the ants where gathered.

Just then, The Uzea king who had witnessed everything exclaimed.

"You wicked man, i gave u shelter in my palace , yet you can't even habour a common coackroach from its enemies" with this he sent Agba out of his palace and the war continued.


After weeks of fighting with no solution in sight.

The Benin chiefs and Esan Chiefs met without the knowledge of both their rulers and decided to find a way to end this pointless war as they wanted to return home to their families.

They decided to end the lives of both their kings and settle the dispute amicably.

The Esan chiefs agreed and asked for the secret to defeat Ozolua,

They were told to attack Ozolua while he bathed at the river,because that is when he took off his metal amour which he crafted in his days in Ora villiage, it was this amour that shielded him in battle.



The Esan did this and Ozolua was killed .

But when the Benin Chiefs ask the secret to kill Agba, the Esan chiefs asked that they be allowed to kill their king themselves.

This treachery by the Esans was scorned at by the Benin chiefs who went home with their slain king's body...
Regretting that they trusted the Esan chiefs

At the thick Forest Agba was tied down but no Chief agreed to be the one to deliver the blow that will kill their master.

But a warrior from agbor who was not a native but fought alongside the Esan chiefs, told them to return to Uromi and tell the villiages that The king disappeared in the forest and that he would handle the kings murder.


The chiefs left and whether or not Agba was killed or set free was never known.

The legend became that the King disappeared at the forest, now called Ahojie Forest and for that reason every king of Uromi is forbidden from entering that very forest till this day.


This is the historical origin of the dispute, although many disagree with its accuracy,
what should be noted is that, the Edo's and the Esans have a peacful relationships and many Obas and have been known to marry Wives from Esanland

The Esan people remain independent and ruled by kings, with the Oba of benin being reveered as the Royal father of all

Click on the video below to learn more about Oba Ozolua and the Uzea war



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjXjtF3v69g?si=4JysnzxmYEVZtPbc

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