The Gun people, also rendered Ogũ, Ogun and Egun, is an

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

principally found in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

regions of southwestern Nigeria, and

Ouémé Department Ouémé is one of the twelve departments of Benin, containing the capital of the country Porto Novo, named for the Ouémé River. It is subdivided into nine communes, each centred at one of the principal towns: Adjarra, Adjohoun, Aguégués, Akp ...

in the southeast of the Republic of Benin, who speak the

Gun language Gun () is a language in the Gbe languages group. It is spoken by the Ogu people in Benin, as well as in south-western Nigeria. Gun is part of the Fon dialectal cluster within the Eastern Gbe languages; it is close to other Fon language, Fon dial ...

. The Ogu account for about 15% of the indigenous population of

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

and 6% of the total population of the Republic of Benin, although their parental ethnic group Fon is the majority in Benin Republic.

Origin

The Ogu are Gbe speaking people who were settlers in the old

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

presently known as

Republic of Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

has it that the Ogu people are a descendant of those who migrated from Whydah, Allada and Weme which are now part of the Republic of Benin as a result of the Dahomean War that occurred during the 18th century. According to Olaide-Mesewaku, A.B., a historian; the Ogu people migrated to

Badagry Badagry, also spelled Badagri, (Gun language, Gun: Gbagli) is a coastal town and Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Po ...

as early as the 15th century due to the need for security. The Zangbeto

Geography and people

The Ogu people are found in

and in the

Yewa The Ẹgbado (Morphology: Ẹgba l'odo), now Yewa, are a subgroup of the Yoruba people and mostly inhabit Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State, in south-west Nigeria, Africa. In 1995, the group's name was changed to Yewa after the Yewa Rive ...

and

Ipokia Ipokia is the metropolitan headquarters of Anago kingdom. It is an ancient kingdom in old Oyo empire. Unlike the other kingdoms, which had at one time or the other engaged in the internecine wars that ravaged Yorubaland in the nineteenth century, ...

region of Ogun State and Makoko in Lagos. They are also located in some parts of the

. Since their environment is surrounded by water, majority of Ogu people are into fishing, coconut processing and salt production while some are involved in trading and farming. The people of Ogu strongly believe in their traditions despite most of them being followers of other religions, they are seen worshipping a deity called

Zangbeto Zangbeto are the traditional Vodún guardians of the night among the Ogu (or Egun) people of Benin, Togo, and Nigeria. A traditional police and security institution, the Zangbeto cult is charged with the maintenance of law and order, and ensur ...

. (A Nightman). The Ogu people share similarities with other Gbe people and Yorubas as during the C17-18th the Dahomey Empire was under the

Oyo Empire The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba people, Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day western Nigeria (including the South West (Nigeria), South West zone, Benin Republic, and the western half of the North Central (Nigeria), North Cent ...

rule, thus the strengthen relationship between both ethnicities.

Bibliography

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References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Nigeria Ethnic groups in Benin