The Nembe Kingdom is a traditional state in

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

. It includes the

Nembe Nembe is a Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nembe in the east of the area at . The people of Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw Councils of Bayelsa State have bemoaned their neglect by oil companie ...

and

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

Local Government Areas of

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenag ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The traditional rulers take the title " Amanyanabo". Today, leadership is split between the Amanyanabos of Ogbolomabiri, Bassambiri, Okpoama, Odioama and Twon Brass.

History

The Nembes are an

Izon people The Ijaw people, also known as the Izon people, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with primary population clusters in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers. They also have significant population clusters in Edo, Lagos, Ondo. ...

of the

region, settled in the region that now includes the

Edumanom Forest Reserve The roots of Edumanom Forest Reserve trace back to 1970 when it was singled out as one of the proposed Forest Reserves by the Rivers State Government, a compilation encompassing 11 distinct regions. At that time, the Governor of Rivers State, actin ...

. The date of foundation of the old Nembe kingdom is unknown. Tradition says that the tenth king was called Ogio, ruling around 1639, the ancestor of all subsequent kings. A civil war later split the city into two factions. At the start of the 19th century, king Ogbodo and his followers moved to a new settlement at Bassimibiri, while king Mingi remained at Nembe city. With the arrival of

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

on the coast, the Nembe kingdom became a trading state, but was relatively poor compared to Bonny and

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

. The Nembe

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

picked up in the second quarter of the 19th century when the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

attempted to suppress slave-trading in Africa by blockading the ports of Bonny and Calabar. The position of Nembe town 30 miles up the Brass River became an advantage in these circumstances. However, with dwindling demand for slaves, by 1856 the

palm-oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the Fruit anatomy#Mesocarp, mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of Elaeis, oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% ...

trade had become more important and trade had moved to the town of

Twon-Brass Twon-Brass, previously known simply as Brass or Brasstown, is an Ijaw community on Brass Island in the Nun River estuary of Southern Bayelsa State, Nigeria, in the Brass Local Government Area. Twon Brass was found in the year, 1895 The traditio ...

on the coast. In the later 19th century,

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and a ...

aries contributed to the existing factional tensions among the Nembe. Ogbolomabiri acquired a Christian mission in 1867, while Bassambiri remained "heathen". After 1884, the Nembe kingdom was included in the area over which the British claimed sovereignty as part of the

Oil Rivers Protectorate The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British protectorate in the Oil Rivers area of present-day Nigeria, originally established as the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1884 and confirmed at the Berlin Conference the following year. It was renamed on 12 M ...

. The Nembe, who by now controlled the

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

trade, at first refused to sign a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

and sought to prevent the

Royal Niger Company The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the ''United African Company '' and renamed to ''National African Company'' in 1881 and to ''Royal Niger C ...

obtaining a trade monopoly. In January 1895 the Nembe King

William Koko William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

led a dawn attack of more than a thousand warriors on the company's headquarters at

Akassa Akassa, is an Ijaw town at the southernmost tip of Nigeria in Bayelsa State where the Nun River estuary meets the Atlantic Ocean. It has a lighthouse that has stood since 1910, Akassa Lighthouse. The proximity of Akassa to the Atlantic ha ...

. This triggered a retaliatory raid in which an expeditionary force led by Sir Frederick Bedford captured and sacked Nembe, occurring concurrently with a devastating outbreak of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

in the Kingdom. The British later established a

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

in Twon-Brass, from where they administered the area. Traditional rulers were reinstalled in the 1920s, but with an essentially symbolic role which they retain today.

Rulers

Ogbolomabiri

Rulers of Ogbolomabiri:

Bassambiri

Later rulers of Bassambiri:

References

{{Authority control Nigerian traditional states Ijaw states