Jews have been documented in parts of Nigeria since the precolonial period, but it is not known for the Igbo to have claimed Israelite descent or practiced Judaism prior to colonial times.

[13][14] Though there is no doubt that Jews were present in Saharan trade centers during the first millennium AD,[15] there is no evidence that Igbo people had contemporaneous contact with historical Jewish populations, or that they had at any point adopted or practiced Judaism prior to colonization by the European powers.

[16][4][17] The religious practices of the Igbo Jews include circumcision eight days after the birth of a male child, the observance of kosher dietary laws, the separation of men and women during menstruation, the wearing of the tallit and kippah, and the celebration of holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah,[18] and Purim.

Rabbi Howard Gorin visited the community in 2006[20] and members of his synagogue, "Tikvat Israel" in Rockville, Maryland, USA, supported those in Nigeria by sending books, computers, and religious articles.

[21] In addition to Rabbi Howard Gorin, visitors have included Dr. Daniel Lis, Professor William F. S. Miles, filmmaker Jeff L. Lieberman, and the American writer Shai Afsai.

[22] In 2013 Shai Afsai invited two Igbo Jewish leaders, Elder Ovadiah Agbai and Prince Azuka (Pinchas) Ogbukaa of Abuja's Gihon Hebrew Synagogue, to Rhode Island in the United States.

For instance, Daniel Lis explained in his article[4] that parts of the Igbo Jewish community are assimilating themselves to the standards of Orthodox Judaism, so as to be universally accepted as Jews in Israel.