Afikpo-Amasiri War, Circa 1700

Abstract

Warfare has been described by scholars as part of a society’s  existence. Wars are fought for different reasons which could be
economic, social or political. This is a study of the war fought by the Afikpo and Amasiri village groups in the pre-colonial period. The war is not well known in the history of the area and the few existing works on the war have not addressed in detail; the causes, course and time of the war. The study reveals that the Afikpo-Amasiri War was one of the earliest wars fought by the people of the area. The paper maintains that there was the application of the role of the super natural or what is recently coming to light in warfare as strategic spiritual intelligence in the prosecution of the war. Furthermore, the study reveals that the war was fought not later than circa 1700. Relying primarily on oral and secondary sources, the research adopted the analytical and escriptive method of historical analysis. It concludes that the ogbugba ndu (blood covenant) entered into by the belligerents which marked the end of hostility between the two village groups, strengthened the relationship between the village groups, that since the end of the war, there has not been any form of hostility between the two village groups.