The Ijaws (Ijo, Izon) were the first people in the Nigeria Coast or Niger Delta Coast otherwise known as the Oil Rivers Coast

The Ijaws (Ijo, Izon) were the first people in the Nigeria Coast or Niger Delta Coast otherwise known as the Oil Rivers Coast and even the Slave Coast, to encounter the Europeans merchant traders and slave raiders and traders. This first contact was not always cordial. In 1480 the Ijo coastal town of Kula in the eastern delta was visited by a Portuguese merchant. The Portuguese received a hostile reception and turned back never to trade there again;

“…1480 The Portuguese are stated to have first landed at Kula, where they met with such a hostile reception that their visit to that neighbourhood was not repeated…”[3]

In 1485 the Portuguese led by John Affonso D’ Aveiro passed Oporoza on their way to Benin city. In the same year of 1485 the Portuguese issued themselves a royal privilege; claiming for themselves the sole right to trade and acquire captives from the five River Niger outlets, which were Mahin, Benin, Escravos, Forcados and Ramos.[4] Arriving in the Niger Delta, they observed the Ijos, of whom they made various comments such as;

“….Beyond these there are other Negroes called Jos [Ijo], who possess a large territory; they are warlike people…….”[5]

Taken from

Talbot P A, (the Peoples of Southern Nigeria) , p238.

Alagoa E J (1972) A History of the Niger