Mr Aimuawonsa Okundia

The Bini Massacre Mr Aimuawonsa Okundia

This book presents the primordial facts about the empire of Benin in Nigeria. It traces its original organisational form by the Ogisos when the kingdom was known as Igodomigodo to when it crossed to the current form as the kingdom of Benin and the dynasty of the Obas. Igodomigodo was ruled by paramount rulers known as the Ogisos. There were about thirty-one Ogisos that sat on the throne of Igodomigodo before the first Oba was insstalled. The first Oba was Oba Eweka 1, who was a descendant of Ogiso Owode. The kingdom had several Obas in place after the rulership of the last Ogiso This book presents, in a comic form, the evolution of the kingship system of the Bini empire from the rather docile administration of the Ogisos to the dynamic dynasty of the Obas. The events that led to the massacre of the British Expeditioners in 1896 was properly documented. This event is historically known as the Bini Massacre, which forms the title of the book. The massacre of the British Expeditioners was during the reign of Oba Ovonramwen. This led to the invasion of the Benin Kingdom and the consequent punitive action against the empire. About 1,200 British colonial soldiers unleashed terror on the kingdom and massacred several locals. It was a carefully calculated genocide and mass looting of artifacts from the palace. On the 13th of September, 1897.