Indigenous Resistance To British Incursion In Ibibio Land, 1856-1960

Abstract

From the earliest European contact during the era of the Atlantic slave trade, to the early days of the trade in palm produce, the activities of the Europeans had revolved around the coast and trading with the hinterland was through some African middlemen. Ibibio hinterland did not suffer any incursion during this time. As the trading activities in palm produce drew an increasing number of British merchants to the coast, the new entrants found the need to circumvent the middlemen, and explore beyond the coast in order to have direct access to the source of the Palm oil and Kernel. This quest led to incursion into Ibibio hinterland by the British expeditionary forces. Using primary sources such as oral interviews, archival evidence and secondary sources, this paper adopts historical narrative and found out that the Ibibio people, faced with this scenario, adopted different forms of resistance, including flights from the invading forces, active resistance by engaging in direct fights with the British troops and passive resistance by refusing to carry out their orders.

This study concludes that though the Ibibio people detested the incursion and put up spirited resistance against same, the British eventually gained upper hand, through the use of superior guns, scrupulous disarming of the people, scorched earth strategy of burning houses, farms and other property of the resisters and treaty making.