What is the history of the Nupe people?

The Nupe are an ethnic group native to North Central Nigeria. They are the dominant ethnic group in Niger State and a minority in Kwara State. The Nupe are also present in Kogi State and The Federal Capital Territory.

What is the history of the Nupe people?

According to tradition, Nupe was founded in the 16th century by Tsoede, who died in 1591 aged 120; he built Gbara and conquered a large amount of territory. Raba, the capital, became highly prosperous. Its wealth was largely dependent on wars to collect prisoners to sell as slaves.

Although a version of their history claims that they originally lived in Egypt, the more common tradition traces their origin to Tsoede who fled the court of Idah and established a loose confederation of towns along the Niger in the 15th century.

Nigeria is a hard place to live. There are constant displays of violence. An al-Qaeda ally, the Boko Haram routinely kidnaps young girls and ravages towns. This fundamentalist Islamic group is taking over parts of north-east Nigeria regularly killing any nonbelievers.