The Longjuju: Revisiting slavery in Aroland 

By 

Jennifer Oji 

Ever before the arrival of the European traders, African communities had existed adequately on their own; they had their religion, government, and other self-sustaining cultural systems. The Ubina Ukpabi, otherwise called ‘The Longjuju’ by the European invaders, was one of such forces which the people peddled using its power over their neighbours and successfully turning whole areas into a state of perpetual battle which they exploited fully.

With the assumption of power by the imperial government, inland penetration became a matter of serious concern. Yet the government thought that peaceful penetration was impossible so long as the Aro ruled the entire Iboland by means of their powerful juju. The way out of the Aro domination, therefore, was a complete military showdown.

The Longjuju of Arochukwu was the most famous of all the oracles in Igboland. It was the Ibos’ greatest oracle whose shrine later became the court of appeal throughout the Iboland. This made the Aro very important in Iboland, an importance based on the universal respect of the people of Eastern Nigeria for the Longjuju, which was said to be "Chukwu" the Ibo name for the supreme deity.

Generally, the Ibos believed in oracles. They made appeals and offerings to the oracles for rain to avoid drought in any particular year and also to avoid bad harvest and famine. They also believed that these oracles could bring good fortune and luck in business. Some of the oracles were believed to be controllers of fertility and barrenness and they appealed to these oracles to answer their prayer for fertility. Cases were also brought to these oracles for judgement. Among the common cases in Iboland before 1600 were land disputes, stealing, murder etc. These oracles were believed to be impartial, in that whatever judgement was made by the oracle (the Longjuju) was final. It was also useful for economic purposes and was believed to be the supplier of wealth in the society.

Ibina Ukpabi, or Longjuju, resided in a lonely cave in the heartland of Aroland. Whatever the Longjuju was at that time, it was only known to the initiated. It was given exotic names in order to infuse fear into the hearts of the uninitiated. The Aros, who were the owners of Longjuju, are said to have migrated from several places. Writing about 1905, Frank Rives, a District Commissioner, said, "The Aros were quite a different racial types from the indigenous inhabitants of the Ibo country. They were of fine physique, with delicately moulded extremities and facial features ... the Europeans who came into contact with this section of the Ibo people , found them so superior in intelligence , craftiness and diplomacy that only European origin could account for such traits.

The Aros were always against the penetration of Europeans having sufficient intelligence to see in this the end of their rule or misrule. And in their efforts to discourage such inroads they were responsible for most of the trouble encountered when opening up the country. They would pose as white men, and in this character would raid villages, destroy farms and enslave the inhabitants.

Those methods indicated the possession of cunning and intelligence far too subtle for any indigenous races, for the Aros never appeared themselves as the enemies of Europeans, and yet managed to oppose them on every occasion by proxy.

The control over the deity gave the Aros a large measure of respect among the other people of the land. They became mediators between the people and the Longjuju, and the Aro territory soon became a trading centre tainted with religious sanctions. It was the Aros who could travel in the lands without any molestation or being held to ransom.

All other people from the rest of the Iboland could only travel safely in their company. Since the shrine of the Longjuju was sited on the main trading route to the Delta region, the Aro rulers found the deity a convenient instrument for the maintenance of community discipline.

The problem posed by the Aros in relation to opening up of the Iboland to trade had quite early engaged the attention of the Royal Niger Company, and the High Commissioner, Nigerian Coast Protectorate. Before the revocation of the company’s charter, a plan to attack the Aros and destroy the Longjuju was hatched by the High Commissioner, Sir Ralph Moore, in a despatch to the under secretary of state, dated September 9, 1899, titled: The Aros

To justify such an unprecedented operation on the lower Niger, Sir Ralph Moore spelt out the objects of the expedition in a carefully worded memorandum:

Arochukwu was the capital of Aro tribe, the home of the Longjuju and located not far from the Cross River town, Itu. Between 25, December, 1901, and January 13, 1902, the British force was engaged in a war in the Arochukwu neighbourhood.

Eventually, the war spread beyond the immediate environs and in spite of superior weapons, the British command could not contain in a hurry the Aro forces. But eventually all the fourteen Aro towns were destroyed, including the Longjuju. Priceless artifacts were lost.

Some of the Aro leaders were arrested, tried by tribunals and hanged. The fame and importance of the Aros faded with the end of the Longjuju