Bakor, Ekoi

The Ekoi or Ejagham are found in the easternmost part of southern Nigeria and in the contiguous area of the western Cameroon Republic. They are hoe agriculturists and their main crops are yam, cocoyam, and maize. The men are hunters, but help in clearing the bush for women to farm. The Ekoi and other groups of the Cross River area have produced large monoliths, called Atal, which are thought to represent ancestors. One of these atals dates from as far back as AD 200. These columnar basaltic stones on which human features were carved are found almost exclusively within the five village groups of Nnam, Nselle, Abanyom, Nde, and Akaju. These groups inhabit an area of over 900 sq. km in the middle of the Cross River area. Together, these groups of villages form a homogeneous linguistic group known as Ekoi or Ejagham. The unity of the Bakor linguistic group, despite it internecine warfare, has now been politically expressed in the joint celebration of the annual New Yam Festivals into which the carved monoliths are incorporated.