Bonny Island otherwise known as Grand Bonny Kingdom is a town and kingdom in Rivers state. A long time ago, the strategic location of Bonny made her accessible to European traders and merchants. This made Bonny grow into prominence and became a notable Centre for International commerce. Their economic strength was mainly focused on the palm oil trade between them and the European traders.
During the 16th century to the 19th century, Bonny became a palm oil depot from where palm oil was exported to other European countries. The trade with the Europeans exposed Bonny people and the Royal house to foreign influence in the enthronement of kings to protect their (European) foreign interests. William Dappa Pepple was subsequently installed as king, also known as Amanyanabo of Bonny.
Later on, due to the political and economic rivalry of King William Dappa Pepple and the European traders, he was removed which brought about the enactment of regent rule in Bonny. For fairness and equal representation, Chief Oko Jumbo the leader of the Fubara Manilla Pepple house and Chief Jaja the leader of the Opubo Annie Pepple house were appointed by the British consul to run the affairs of Bonny kingdom in the absence of a king. As time passed, Chief Jaja and Chief Oko Jumbo had the ambition to ascend the kingship throne of Bonny which led to a serious rift and struggle for power as both were leaders of the two main royal houses.
Chief Jaja was originally from Igbo land and was sold into slavery as a child and brought to Ijaw land. Jaja earned his way out of slavery after serving his master for a number of years. He became wealthy and prominent and subsequently became the head of the Opubo Annie Pepple house.
The Bonny civil war began in September 1869 and was fought between the Fubara Manilla Pepple house led by Chief Oko Jumbo and the Opubo Annie Pepple house led by Chief Jaja. Both houses were militarily equipped and had agreed to engage in physical battle on a particular date. Prior to the date of the battle, the European traders carried out an inspection of the armory of both houses to ascertain the winner of the battle. After the inspection, they declared that Chief Jaja’s armory was better equipped and he is most likely to win the war.
This made Chief Oko Jumbo come up with a strategy to destroy Chief Jaja’s armory a night before the battle. On Sunday 12th September 1869, while Jaja and his people were preparing to take on their opponent, Chief Oko Jumbo and his people struck at night. They first set fire on the house of Cookey which he placed under the care of Chief Jaja while he was away on health grounds. This was to divert Chief Jaja’s attention. Then they set fire on the armory of Chief Jaja which burnt down the armory completely.
Meanwhile the set day for the battle was Monday due to the religious belief of the Fubara Manilla People house that they cannot engage in a battle on Sunday which was set aside as a day of worship of the Almighty God. The destruction of Jaja’s armory left him helpless and he abandoned the war and fled for his life along with members of the Opubo Annie Pepple house and fourteen other chieftaincy houses.
They left Bonny and were homeless. They started searching for a good habitation which led them to seek refuge in Obolo also known as Andoni.
The Obolo people provided a place of settlement for Chief Jaja and his people as well as the other fourteen Chieftaincy houses that fled Bonny. They established Opobo kingdom which is still their current settlement till this day and Jaja was crowned as king.
The consequences of the war on Bonny was severe because their population depleted after Jaja and the four chieftaincy houses fled. The economy of Bonny collapsed which led to severe hardship and starvation. Because of the strategic position of Opobo, Jaja mounted a trade blockade stopping Bonny from accessing some markets and trading with the Europeans. So the Europeans traded with him instead. With this settlement, Opobo became the new economic power and center of trade in the Eastern Niger Delta Region.
The trade blockade completely paralyzed the economy of Bonny. The Bonny people had to diversify their economy from the dependence on palm oil trade to the cultivation of cash crops. So they went to seek help from the Obolo people who provided them with land to start cultivating cash crops such as cocoa, rubber, breadfruits and coconut.
Story Source – Miss Ibitoru Ibelema Obukuru, 1st Runner up FONDCUP 2022/2023
Photo Credit – Google Search Engine
