A small hilly community called Akpogwu ( meaning one who shouts, the hill up on which Igala soldiers watch from and shout or alert other ground troops) was the starting point of the war by Fulanis or Danfodio men to take over Igala land and install a Fulani king as Emir. The descendants of some of those Igala warriors from the palace in Idah are still in Akpogwu and Koton Karfe till date. The community originally founded by Ohiemi who left Idah due to throne conflict was initially called Igu, meaning he sat or he sat here. That place he used to settle or rest after hunting later became the settlement of his children though they later expanded to Abaji (Abuja indigenous Igala) and Nasarawa state (Nasarawa indigenous Igala) later. The Igu was later changed to Akpoto by the white men who visited there and heard the exclamation of Akpoto, Akpoto…we have entered trouble, we have entered trouble o….) by the Igala. Uthman Danfodio few men that ran away since Igala warriors overpowered them and didn’t let them into Igala land changed the Akpoto to Koton, and not just that but added Karfe, meaning power. Koton (Akpoto) Karfe then means powerful Igala or Igala with power. Although, Igu is still in use by the community members, the Hausa servant with the white men heading Lokoja then still told the white men that Koton Karfe is the name, hence the Igu was forgotten. Well, not only Igu, Kogi, the name of our state is also a Hausa word for water/river, and it was recorded courtesy of the Katsina man too. That was how the loyalty to the white men led to the installation of Hausa man as Maigari of Lokoja from far away Katsina, investigation revealed.
That apart, the Igala-Uthman Danfodio/Fulani war was an important war which would have ousted Attah Igala and been replaced by an Emir in Idah till date before it was fiercely stopped by the ever undefeatadable Igala warriors. Hey! Visit Koto Karfe, and Akpogwu in particular, the then battle ground which prevented the installation of Emir in Igala land like in Ilorin, Niger, Nasarawa, … The location is also the reminder of the strength of Igala.
God bless the Igala Heroes past.
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Indigenous Igala People Worldwide
