Kingdom of Bonny

During the 19th century the British became increasingly involved in the internal affairs of the kingdom, in 1886 assuming control under a protectorate treaty.

A version of events that dates to the colonial period states that Bonny originated from the Ngwa section of the Igbo people.

One Alagbariye, a hunter, was said to have migrated to the Azumini Creek on a hunting expedition, and finally settled with his family on the virgin island.

The founder, Opara Ndoli - a man from the Isedani lineage of Kolokuma in the Ebeni-toru region (in the present day Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa) - ruled for the duration of his life.

The mainland comprises Bonny Island and its segments, namely the Main Island (Township), Sandfield, Iwoama, Orosikiri, Aganya, Ayambo, Akiama, Isilegono, New Road, Wilbross pipeline, Workers Camp, and some outlying fishing settlements lying along the Bonny River's coastline.

When the British passed an act to abolish the slave trade in 1807, the port turned to the export of palm oil products, ivory and Guinea pepper.

[11] In an attempt to stabilize the situation, Chief Omoni Jack Brown, Governor General of Finima in conjunction with the British, restored King William Dappa Pepple I in 1861, and for the next five years until his death on 30 September 1866 the kingdom was relatively peaceful.

[6] George Pepple was a Christian, and on 21 April 1867, supported by Oko Jumbo and other chiefs, he declared the monitor lizard was no longer the sacred deity of the kingdom.

In 1869 a major battle between the two factions led to Ja-Ja founding a new state at Opobo, further inland, taking some of the palm oil trade away from Bonny.

With the loss of trade to Opobo, Bonny began pushing up rivers traditionally controlled by Kalabari, causing a series of armed clashes.

Bonny was at times assisted by the Nembe Kingdom to the west and Okrika further inland, while Opobo allied with Kalabari.

Another son, Herbert Jumbo, who had been educated in England, quarreled with his father and placed himself under the protection of the British consul.

Oko Jumbo was publicly degraded, his bans on Christianity were repealed and afterwards he was a spent force in Bonny politics.

St. Stephens Anglican church, Bonny Kingdom
The Monitor Lizard , totem of the war god Ikuba and heraldic beast of Bonny's classical kings.
The Curlew , totem of the kingdom as a whole and heraldic beast of its modern kings.
Royal Canoe of the Kingdom of Bonny, 1890
Bonny Chiefs with a Naval Commandant in 1896