Okpekpe

Okpekpe is a town in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. It is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Auchi. It has a population of 3155 inhabitants. Its people belong to a large homogeneous group of people, called the Afemai.

Okpekpe is located at a latitude of 7.2 (7° 12' 0 N) and a longitude of 6.47 (6° 28' 0 E), about 354 kilometers south west (209°) of the approximate center of Nigeria and 240 kilometres (150 mi) south west (209°) of the capital Abuja. Okpekpe, due to its unique location and climate, has a huge potential for tourism, though not yet fully developed because of lack of direct investment. Okpekpe is surrounded by hills and big rocks, which makes its weather very friendly. It is rumoured that the rocks hold vast amount of rare mineral resources, though yet to be explored. Okpekpe, is in North Ibie, belongs to a large homogenous group of people, the Ibie found in Afemai land, which is at the northern part of Edo State. The Ibie are bordered by River Niger to the east, Etsako West to the west, Auchi to the south, and Kwara State & Kogi State to the north. Okpepke is surrounded by other towns and villages like Imiegba, Itsukwi, Imiakebu, Ebelle, Ukhomedokhai, Okeko, Ikphelli, Ukho, etc. The population of the Ibie people has been estimated to be about a 100,000 people according to the 2006 population Census.

The Okpekpe people are believed to have descended from Ogogo (father) and Atuegbe (mother)'s children, who later migrated to their present location from the old Benin Kingdom during the ‘tyranny' of Oba Ewuare I, the great, the then Oba of Benin. Oral history has it that, the reason for the migration was because the Oba had decreed that all communities within the Kingdom must mourn the death of his (Oba Ewuare I) son for a long period, without going to farm or hunting. This led to starvation and death among the Okpekpe people, thus forcing them to migrate to their current location, a mountainous topography that could serve as defence against any likely invasion by the Oba. The oral history further goes on to say that the present settlement of Okpekpe was occupied by very dangerous thorn bushes, called "Ugba-Okpekpe", meaning "the thorn of Okpekpe".

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