From a young age, Idoma children usually learn from their elder's stories of old and were brought up around extended families, which make multiple historical resources available.

Scholars have combined oral history with genealogical data and analysis of kinship totems to trace the roots of the Idoma people as a whole.

[6] Many Idoma kindred claims an ancestral homeland called Apa, north-east of present-day Idomaland due to pressures of Northern invaders as recently as 300 years ago.

Informants in other ethnic groups have corroborated the existence of this kingdom, chiefly the Jukun who also believe they once ruled a confederacy called Kwararafa.

At present, there is a Local Government Area in Benue State called Apa and is said to be the home of those who made the first migration from the historical kingdom.

Other scholars point to historical and linguistic evidence that suggests that Idoma have ties with the Igala people to the west, concluding that the two nations came from a common ancestor.

Eri migrated from the Igala area and established a community in the middle of Anambra river valley (at Eri-aka) in Aguleri where he married two wives.

There are yet other Idoma groups notably in the southern regions, which claim their ancestors arrived at their present location from the Northern fringes of Igboland as a result of land disputes.

In any event, it could be said that despite their heterogeneous origins, trading, marriage, language and other interactions among the Idoma have cultivated traditions and shaped a rich cultural identity distinctly their own.

The popular idea is that the Idoma are an ethnolinguistic group primarily found in the western areas of Benue State, Nigeria.

This is because they are the second largest group in the state and occupy 9 local government areas (L.G.A.’s) which are: Ado, Agatu, Apa, Obi, Ohimini, Ogbadibo, Oju, Okpokwu and Otukpo.

With the advent of Christianity, Islam, and other foreign religions, the traditional belief systems of most ethnic groups in the country has been influenced by western practices.

They host an annual "Eje Alekwu" festival where traditional religious practitioners commune and make sacrifices in the worship of their ancestors across the land.

[citation needed] The Idomas have a strong attachment to the Alekwu-spirit of the ancestors which is believed to stand as an invisible watchdog of the family and communities while checkmating vices like adultery, theft and murder.

[8] While the marriage rites and customs of the Idoma people is not unlike that of the Igbos and some other south-eastern cultures, there are specific aspects that clearly distinguish their tradition.