ORIGIN OF ABBI

ORIGIN - FOUNDER – Amacha

Abbi was founded by Amacha who migrated from Achala-uku in the then Anambra State. The present site of Abbi was a virgin forest and swamps uninhabited until the arrival of the first settler from Achala-uku in the east central of Nigeria, Okpala-uku Amacha.

Amacha is the great grand ancestor of all Abbi people; though to be factual, Abbi is not a homogenous people having same root trace. The acronym ‘Abbi bu ofu” almost make most people think Abbi people have a common origin. Descendants of other immigrants like Ewolokpo, Ogwezhi, Ndueze, Okita etc. who came later are also in Abbi today. Their homogeneity is blurred because members of the respective quarters can trace their origin to separate and distinct ancestors although both groups appear to have common place of Origin.

AMACHA’S JOURNEY TO ABBI

About 16^th century [late] A.D, Amacha migrated from Achala-uku to Aboh. Amacha having children, slaves, servants and wife Omai arrived Aboh and was welcomed by Obi of Aboh. In Aboh the Obi of Aboh regarded Amacha as relations perhaps because of similarity of language.

After the death of the Obi, things changed as the two sons of the Obi, Ogwezhi and Ugbo battle for the throne. The younger one Ogwezhi was more popular and at end won the war, so the elder son Ugbo caused the Aboh land and his brother, then migrated to found where is known as Orogun today.

After the battle between the two brothers, fans of the eldest son now had strayed relationship with the new Obi as they never supported his succession to the throne. This led them to leave the Aboh land together with Efe. Those that left the Aboh land were Ama [founder of Amai], Ukwata [founder of Umukwata], Efe [founder of Orogun], Amacha [founder of Abbi] and the founder of Emu

Amacha was in support of Efe who is the right heir to the throne so he had to migrate along after being ill-treated by Obi Ogwezhi. Amacha had with him his shrine called Nze. He first made a brief stop at Umu-olu, after a while he continued to move because the king of Aboh was still sending his men to get task [Ntueze] from there, so he further moved to Ashaka, as same treatment continued he left to Ushe and from Ushe he got to Abbi.

As Amacha migrates with his people, some of them could not move further but stopped in those towns and lived and had quarters in those towns. Amacha got to Abbi with three sons and his wife Omai. The sons are Ogwezi, Okolo and Aninta. The King of Aboh was still finding his way to Abbi, until he was forcefully stopped by Udu the grandchild of Amacha.

AMACHA’S LINEAGE

AMACHA – Ogwezhi, Okolo, Aninta

OGWEZHI – Onyedem, Okubor, Otokei, Ajua, Ejine [F]

OKOLO – Okita,

ANINTA – Echi, Udu, Ogwezhi, Ukpene

THE NAME ABBI

Amacha said to his family ‘’Ka anyi bili n’ebeni’’ meaning ‘’let us live here’’ after he had used his sons to measure the whole expanse of land and was sure that no other person lived in it. It is from this language Ka anyi bili that ka abili was abbreviated from and consequently abbreviated again to what we call “Abbi”. As at this time, no other person had migrated to Abbi, apart from Ndueze, brother to Amacha’s wife who had been taken by Omai.

Amacha constructed the town as he built houses for himself and family and established the “Ani juju” as a symbol of ownership of the land he had founded. He constructed the Orile Abbi as a playground for social activities and established “Nze  Shrine” the god of war at the present Elovie.