12/08/2026
HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND TRADITIONS OF ORIGIN OF AKUGBENE-MEIN
Geographically, Mein clan is located within an area of approximately 480 square miles, lying between longitude East 5°43' and 6°3', and latitude approximately 5°27'.
The territorial extent of the Mein clan is approximately 216 square miles of land, 160 square miles of this lie in the South along the Forcados River, with the Okpari and Egodo Creek. Mein clan was originally situated in the South Eastern area, but the majority of the population later migrated to the North Western part of the creeks of Amassoma area in Brass Division of the Forcados River, close to Ganagana (now Okwagbe) and Patani and its adjoining creeks (Intelligence Report, 1930). A part of the Mein clan migrated south-westward towards the sea and settled at Bilabiri at the mouth of the Dodo River.
The Mein occupied a total of twenty-two villages, which include Bomadi, Kpakiama, Syama, Ogbeinama, Akugbene, Okoloba, Ogodobiri, Ezebiri, Egodo, Bikorogha, Kiagbodo, Ogbodobiri, Ayakoromo, Ogriagbene, Adobor, Kalafiugbene, Akparemogbene, Oyangbene, Ekemetagbene, Ogobiri, Bilabiri, and Eriama. Among these aforementioned villages, the first nineteen villages are located in the North Western area, which is the primary area of focus.
The population of the entire Mein clan, according to the 1925–1930 census, was put at 7,889. A further breakdown of this figure shows that the male adult population was 1,859; women were approximately 2,500, while the population of the children was approximately 2,700 (Intelligence Report, 1930).
On the other hand, population figures for the Forcados area of the Mein clan between 1929–1930 were approximately 1,450 for adult males, women approximately 1,900, and children approximately 2,700, making it a total population figure of 6,050 people. This shows a population density of approximately thirty-eight persons per square mile.
The Mein clan occupies all the land on the bank of the Forcados River (within land limits of two to four miles) between Gbekebo in the north-west and the Ngbelekunu quarters of Adobor in the east, with the exception of the lands on which the non-Mein Ijaw villages of Okpokunu and Oboro are located. Furthermore, it also covers the lands around the two remaining more isolated village groups of Bilabiri and Eriama.
Consequently, it is impossible to make any clear definition of the territorial boundary of Akugbene-Mein, except that the southern boundary of the Forcados River groups extended as far as Bomadi, which was the administrative boundary between Forcados District and Warri Division, while the northern boundary extended as far as Bomadi (Intelligence Report, 1930).
The Mein clan is low-lying and, in the rainy season, it is swampy, and there is no undulation of any sort in the Mein territories. Thus, from Gbekebo up-river, there are mangrove trees which give place to forest consisting of a variety of timber that continues up to Kpakiama (Kpakyama) and down the Sagbama Creek to the group within the Amassoma area.
Although the river stretching through this territory varies in width between two and six hundred yards, it winds throughout the territory with an infinity of curves (Intelligence Report, 1930).
It is important to note that the rivers within this territory are not salt-water rivers, which invariably serve as a source of drinking water to the people.
