Obua Ajukwu

Obua Ajukwu, known as Ndanike (the ancestor of the Umundanike people), was a military leader and slave trader of Oguta in what is now Imo State, Nigeria. He is historically significant as the man who purchased Jaja of Opobo as a child slave and sold him into slavery in Bonny, setting in motion the events that would lead Jaja to eventually become King of Opobo.

Background

Ajukwu's father led the Edo people from the Benin Empire through Sapele and Ekumeku to Ugwunta, settling in 1620 between the people of Awo and Ohaji. Obua Ajukwu owned many slaves who travelled around Igboland with him and was described as a first-class chief of Oguta, its first war minister.

Connection to King Jaja of Opobo

Around 1833, when Jubo Jubogha (later known as Jaja of Opobo) was approximately twelve years old, Ajukwu travelled to Bonny to buy and sell slaves. He sold Jubo Jubogha to Chief Iganipughuma Allison of Bonny Island, where the boy was later renamed Jaja by British traders who could not pronounce his Igbo name. Jaja went on to earn his freedom, rise through the trading houses of Bonny, and found the Opobo Kingdom in 1869, becoming one of the most powerful rulers of the Niger Delta region.

Colonial resistance and deportation

Ajukwu was deported by the Royal Niger Company to Calabar in 1902, following the consolidation of British colonial control over the Niger Delta region. Although his family's influence traced back to the 16th century, Ajukwu himself lived during the late 19th century and early 20th century.