Ukelle People

Some argue that their ancestors moved downwards from Benue state, others contend that the ancestors may have moved from the Igbo country. Ukelle people share sociocultural similarities with the neighbouring Igede people of Benue state and Yala people of Cross River state.[3] Major ceremonies such as marriage, burials and dances bear striking resemblances. Ukelle people refer to Yala people as Ollah, Igede people as Ollah-ewoh and the Idoma people of Benue state as Ollah-akpoto. Kukelle, the language of Ukelle people is grouped by some authorities as belonging to the Benue–Congo sub group of African Languages.[2] However, E. Alagoa in Groundwork of Nigerian History further defined Ukelle people as those who speak one of the Cross River languages. The Lutheran Church of Nigeria, through its Literature Centre in Wanikade, translated the New Testament of the Bible into Kukelle in 1979. In the Ukelle region, the day-to-day Government authority at the local level resides in the village assembly (called ojilla). The village assembly is made up of the king or one or more chiefs, the elders and the youths. In earlier times, a typical Ukelle community had a village square, with the ojilla at its center. Until any settlement of Ukelle people makes an ojilla, they are considered an appendage of the nearest Cross River Statet community with an ojilla. In fact, the term ojilla is used interchangeably to refer to the village, its square or the village assembly. The burial of an[clarification needed] Ukelle man or woman is the responsibility of the deceased family and of the village. A group of villages make up a clan (called an essam). For example in Wanikade, there are three essam: Ogumogum, Otuka and Opuolom respectively. Disputes within each village are adjudicated by the assembly, while disputes between villages within a clan are settled by the assembly of the clan. Disputes between villages in more than one essam as well as matters such as capital punishment, economic use of trees, the forest, rivers etc. are resolved at the general assembly called a lutse. The king or chief wields ceremonial power rather than political power.