The Women’s War of 1929: Igbo and Ibibio Resistance to British Colonialism

5 C's of History: Context Series, #1 of 4. On December 16th, 1929, thousands of Igbo [ee-bo or ibo] women gathered outside the colonial government compound in Opobo. They were there to demand the end of British imperialism in Eastern Nigeria, though the British seemed oblivious to the intention and motivations of these women. What they saw were erratic, reactive women wielding sticks and stones, bearing down on the post office, Native Court, and dispensary. The women pressed against the bamboo fence surrounding the compound, demanding change. They believed the British wouldn’t fire on a group of women. In Igbo society, men did not attack women, and the women believed that the British operated under the same code of cultural conduct. But the British didn’t believe that women were capable of making war, of organizing sophisticated networks of protest, or that women could destroy government buildings with nothing more than their hands, sticks, and stones. When the women refused to back down, the lieutenant in charge ordered his soldiers to open fire. They shot 67 bullets into the crowd, and each found a victim. At least 31 women died that day from bullet wounds; perhaps eight more drowned when the crowd pushed them into the nearby river as they tried to escape the gunfire. Blood-splattered, women screamed and cried, and the smoking guns cleared. The Igbo Women’s War of 1929 came to a violent end.

Transcript, complete bibliography, and resources for teachers at digpodcast.org

Select Bibliography

Nwando Achebe, Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900-1960, (Portsmouth NH: Heinemann, 2005). 

Toyin Faola and Adam Paddock, editors, The Women’s War of 1929: A History of Anti-Colonial Resistance in Eastern Nigeria (Carolina Academic Press, 2011)

David Pratten, The Man-leopard Murders: History and Society in Colonial Nigeria (Edinburgh University Press, 2007)

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