‘Sporadic riots’ and ‘false reports’ – British Reporting of the 1929 Igbo Women’s War

Rioting in Nigeria - headline

By Tom Henderson, Gale Ambassador at Durham University

In December 1929, British newspapers reported on ‘sporadic riots’ taking place in the British colony of Nigeria, targeting Warrant Chiefs and Native Courts across several districts. This was the Ogu Umunwaanyi or ‘Women’s War’: a coordinated insurrection of Igbo women against British colonial rule, ignited by a fear of taxation.

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