Akoko Edo is a Local Government AreainEdo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Igarra.[1][2] It has an area of 1,371 km2 and a population of 262,110 at the 2006 census.[3] It consist of the Akoko people that are split between Ondo[4] and Edo states. [5] Most see themselves as Yoruba and bear names identical with their Yoruba counterparts in Akoko Ondo. The Benin conquests during the reign of Oba Ozolua[6] (1483-1504) established its first settlements in the region,[7] while other people migrated there for fortunes, including the Bida. [8] Of the Igbirra and Idah from the North and East, the war which Oba Esigie fought in 1515-1516 with the Attah of Idah would have brought a lot of migration into the area.[9]
The Ancient Akoko-Edo area is situated in the northern part of Edo state in the south of the Niger-Benue Confluence. Its dominant geographical and environmental features are chains of ancient ridges of rugged rocky hills and a cave, stretching across the length and breadth of what is now known as the Akoko-Edo LGA of the present Northern Edo State, located between latitudes 6° 45′ to 7° 35′ north, and longitudes 5° 55′ to 6° 45′ east.[11] Akoko-Edo, with a population of about 124,000 by the 1991 census, and 261,567 by the 2006 National Population Census, occupies a land area of about 1,371 square kilometers or 6.5% of Edo state by landmass and constitutes about 5.70% of the population. The area is described as the ancestral homeland of the Akoko people, whose indigenous language is the Akoko language, which is classified as Akokoid.[12] Akoko-Edo is bounded in the North by the present Kwara state and parts of the present Kogi state, in the north-west by the present Ondo state, in the south-east by both Etsako west (Auchiclans) and Etsako north (Okpella), and in the south-west by Owan. [13]
Akoko, situated at an elevation of 97.65 meters (320.37 feet) above sea level, falls under the classification of tropical wet and dry climate or savanna (Aw).
Due to unrestrained migrations and conquests, the people of Akoko Edo speak Eight (8) distinct languages that have overlapping occurs. The indigenous language of the people is the Akoko language, which is closely related to the Yoruba language and a subset of the YEAI. Before the British conquest of Nigeria, most people in the region adopted Yoruba language as a primary language. [16] However, the Pidgin English has become the primary language of the people, but many in the region still adopts Yoruba names like their counterparts in Ondo state, the Akoko Ondo. Other languages and dialects in the region include: the Ojiramis (Group II), who understand their neighbours Akuku (Group III) and Enwan (Group I), but not the people in the other villages and settlements.
