Otukpo is a town in

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

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, ...

located in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria. It is also the eponymous name of a subgroup of the

Idoma people The Idomas are a people that primarily inhabit the lower western areas of Benue State, Nigeria, and some of them can be found in Taraba State, Cross River State, Enugu State, Kogi State and Nasarawa State in Nigeria. The Idoma language is cla ...

. Otukpo is the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the Otukpo Local Government Area. It is the headquarters of the Idoma Nation, and remains an important town in Idomaland, an area mainly populated by the Idoma speaking people, though with numerous local dialects spoken in the diverse reaches of Idoma land. Otukpo Idoma language is the umbrella lingua. Otukpo is the seat of the Och' Idoma, the

Paramount Ruler {{Use American English, date=December 2018 The term paramount ruler, or sometimes paramount king, is a generic description, though occasionally also used as an actual title, for a number of rulers' position in relative terms, as the summit of a f ...

Idoma of the Idoma Nation. The Traditional Ruler of Idoma is Ogbodo John Elaigwu. Though his legitimacy as Och Idoma has been questioned by large Section of the Idoma Elites, Traditional District Heads, and Youth. As at the time of publication the case is said to be in court. Elaigwu Ogbodo was a card-carrying member of th
PDP
and a close ally with the Deputy Governorship candidate and Chairman John Ngbede. It is said Ngbede was very instrumental to his emergence as king.

Climate

Otukpo has a tropical savanna climate. It is warm every month with both a wet and dry season. The average annual temperature for Otukpo is 64° degrees and there is about 244 inches of rain a year. It is dry for 169 days a year with an average humidity of 61% and an UV-index of 7. The climate is tropical in Otukpo. The average annual temperature in Otukpo is 27.2 °C. In the month of August, the average temperature is 25.5 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year.

Religion

The people of Otukpo are predominantly

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. Christianity came into the town during the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

. The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church is the pioneer church in the land and is popularly referred to as

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

'ufada' (the

Reverend Father The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

's church). The

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

is also popular in the area. Of late, there has been proliferation of Pentecostal churches in Otukpo. There is also the presence of traditional worship (Alekwu) in Otukpo. Although traditional worship is gradually going extinct, the Alekwu (ancestral) Onyonkpo and Achukwu deities are held sacred in many villages of Otukpo. There is also the practice of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

by the indigenous people of Otukpo. The Abu family in Otukpo town are the first indigenous Idoma people in Otukpo that embraced and practised Islam. Other Idoma indigenes that practised Islam in Otukpo are the Sule Ujor family, Sule Audu and the Samsudeen Amali family. Also, the family of professor samsudeen Amali of Upu village are of the Islamic faith.

Transport

Otukpo is served by a train station on the national railway network as well as numerous bus and taxi services such a
Benue Links
Ejifa Transport, Silver Travels, Pleasure Travels, Calculux and Ifesinachi which travel to every major city in Nigeria daily.

Some prominent places in otukpo

* Ogobia, * Upu, * Otukpoicho, * Otobi, * Adoka, * Oyagede, and * Akpa-Igede.

References

http://www.idoma.info/history.php {{Authority control Local Government Areas in Benue State

Climate

Religion

Transport

Some prominent places in otukpo

See also

References