Ekpu Oro are ancient carved wooden images made from the 'Oko' tree representing the ancestral father of the

Oron people The Oron people (or Örö people) are a multi-ethnic tribal grouping that make up the Akpakip Oro or Oron Nation. The Oron people (Örö) are located primarily in southern Nigeria in the riverine area of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State a ...

of the Akpakip Oro kingdom. The Earliest known ancient wooden carving images of the Oron people is dated to the 2370BC.

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

, Dictionary of the Efik (1862), p.114 Found today in the Oron Museum and other museums around the world, Some of the finest wooden statuary attributed to Oron people were beautifully carved ekpu (ancestral figures) which were destroyed and removed from Nigeria during the

Biafran war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from N ...

in the late 1960s. Ekpu Oro ancestral figures existed as summaries of the personal and social experiences of the Oron people of Southeastern Nigeria - they embodied Oron spiritual beliefs and cultural history; hence, were vessels for the spirits of the dead that instilled great influence over the daily, religious, and social lives of the living. As an art form, Ekpu held the key to understanding Oron past tradition that was largely destroyed by colonial and Christian presence in Oron society. In ancient times it also serves as pictures where individuals uses this craven images to trace their ancestry and family tree down to twenty and above generations.Book Embodied-in-Ekpu-Figurines-of-the-Oron-People by Onyile, Onyile Bassey dt 2007

References

{{reflist African sculptures in the British Museum African sculpture Oron people Nigeria–United Kingdom relations