𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐟 𝐔𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞:

Like the Indians have Hindu, Urhobos of 🇳🇬 have Igbe.

Igbe means dance & it was founded in 1858 by Ubiecha Etarakpo in Kokori, 26 years before the British arrived & established the Niger Coast Protectorate(1884)

Ubiecha witnessed an apparition in which two divine beings appeared and anointed him to preach against the spread of witchcraft & immorality.

Following this supernatural encounter, Ubiecha developed an odd personality and acted insanely as no day passed without him dancing.

As stated earlier, Igbe means dance in Urhobo language & the religion itself is centered on dancing as the main act of worship.

His everyday dancing scared a lot of people at the time & he was called “crazy”. However, it was temporary as Ubiecha soon began performing miracles.

Ubiecha accurately prophesied about the future. He healed the sick and recognized people with witchcraft with amazing precision.

He did all these with a lump of clay called “Orhe Ofuafo” in Urhobo which he claimed fell from the sky into his hands after his divine encounter.

With Ubiecha’s miracles came fame & popularity. The miracles he performed became so popular that Oba Adolo, the then Oba of the Benin empire traveled incognito to see Ubiecha in Kokori, disguising as a leper.

Oba Adolo was the father of Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (1888 – 1897)

Despite the King’s disguise as a leper, Ubiecha identified him as the Oba of Benin empire.

Oba Adolo would deny this claim but Ubiecha stood firm by his words. Oba Adolo eventually admitted to his true identity and that encounter made Ubiecha even more famous.

Ubiecha built a worship ground called “Ogua” where he ministered to people from all over the globe.

The British also came and after examination, failed to tag the religion as idolatry as there were no symbols or images except leather fans and white chalks which denotes purity.

Igbe was first accepted as a Kokori-Urhobo religion but it later spread across Urhoboland and outside her borders. Igbe religion went on to gain acceptance across Africa and in the European continent. The rich & poor practiced Igbe.

But with the importation of Christianity by the British over the years saw a huge decline of the religion.

However, Igbe is practiced till this day across Nigeria & Africa and about 10% of today’s Urhobo population practice Igbe. Others embraced Christianity.

In 2021, a young couple performed their wedding at an Igbe place of worship. The couple, when asked the reason behind their actions said they do not believe in western imported religion.

The holy days of worship is known as Edigbe, meaning the day of joy and the language of worship is Urhobo.

Ubiecha died in 1920 and it is said that he performed miracles even from his bed.

Igbe has its headquarters (Ogua) located in 11, Egbo Street Kokori, present day Nigeria.

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