Ibo

Member of a West African people occupying southeastern Nigeria and numbering about 18 million. Primarily subsistence farmers, they also trade and export palm oil and kernels, and make pottery, woodcarvings, and music. They are divided into five main groups, and their languages belong to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family.

Traditionally lacking centralized authority, villages were autonomous political units with councils of senior men presiding over decision-making meetings. Their religion involved belief in a creator god, an Earth goddess, ancestors, and other spirit forces. Many are now Christians. In 1967 the Ibo East-Central State seceded from the Nigerian Federation and declared its independence as the state of Biafra. In 1970, after three years of civil war, the Ibo forces surrendered.