Ugep (also Umor) is a town in the

Yakurr Yakurr is a Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Its capital is the town of Ugep. The local government area (LGA) was carved out of Obubra local government in 1987. Yakurr has an area of 670 km and a population of 196,4 ...

Local Government Area in

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

, southern

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 village is populated by the Yakurr people. Ugep as it is popularly known is one of the unit that constitute Yakurr, and its indigenes speak the Lokaa Language which is the general language spoken in

. Ugep originated from a place or village called “''Akpa''” in the Eastern Ejagham race in the Central senatorial district of

, Nigeria. The reason why the people of Ugep left Akpa was due to a religious clash between the two paternal families that makes up Akpa in the ritual rites performance in the death of a person from either of the tribe. However, failure of the Ugep people to do the ritual performance for the deceased person is what led to “''The Great Trek''” where the people of Akpa pursued the people of Ugep out of the village, a man called Edem Omilakpa who was tired and weak with his pregnant wife, pushed a stone from the apex of a hill down to the Apka warriors and the stone killed all the warriors and landed at the feet of the King of Akpa that ends the war between Akpa and the people of Ugep, but the great trek continues. The stone is referred to as: “Ancient wonder and saviour stone ” The people of Ugep did not just leave Akpa without any cultural heritage, they left with most of the cultures that were being practiced in Akpa, and that is the culture they practice till date. Ugep is administered and controlled by the Obol Lopon of Ugep who is the chief priest of Ojokobi ''(a fertility spirit)'' he is the central figure in the administrative system with powerful priest called Bi-Nah with their religious role like the Atewa Wu-kang - kang and Opebelede as the chief celebrant of the Ugep New Yam Festival.

Festival

The New yam festival which is now one of the renown festivals in Cross River State and was rebrand to international festival by the past Cross River State Governor Mr

Donald Duke Donald Duke (born 30 September 1961 in Calabar) is a Nigerian politician. He was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for Social Democratic Party, SDP. Personal ...

in 2005; ''Ebelembi, Obam; Ndebra; janenboku; Ledemboku. Etc.''

Tourism

The

Leboku Leboku being a dialectic name for "Festival" is known to be the annual New Yam Festival of the Yakạạ people because the word is the language of the Yakurr people. It is celebrated in the south-south region of Cross River State, Nigeria. The Leb ...

New Yam festival is celebrated in Ugep. Ugep is believed to be the largest village in Africa by land mass. Ugep is the headquarters of Yakurr Local Government Area in Cross River State, Nigeria. Fishing is also a common practice in the area

References

{{reflist Populated places in Cross River State Towns in Nigeria Local Government Areas in Cross River State