History
The people of Tungbo kingdom originated from Otuokpoti in Ogboyan (Ogbia) kingdom the name of the fender of the kingdom is otugbo he left done to constant oral tradition has it that he migrated first to okrungo island along the Nun river. From there, he moved through a creek now known as tungbo creek. During his immigration, he spent at the present location of Tungbo town.
The Tungbo’s major occupation in the past was the cultivation, collection and processing of palm produce-palm oil, palm kernel, palm fruits. This business attracted the attention of both natives and Europeans traders in the territory of Tungbo. With the presence of the whitemen the palm produce business busted the economy of the people. Ate the present time, the people apart from palm produce business also engage in fishing and farming along side with the local production of gin.
Although the majority of Tungbo people today are Christian the introduction of Christianity to the people of the kingdom met stiff opposition from the people historically, the people felt that the whiteman’s religion was an interruption of their idol worship.
Tungbo Ebe kingdom is made up of five major towns along side other satellite towns and villages. The names of the towns are Okrungbo, Balaware, Ondubiri, Frediegha, and Eguebiri.
Culture
The people believed in the existence of Almighty God as the creator of heavens and earth.
The people also believe in the existence of nature spirits. They refer to these spirits as Angels of God.
The clan’s traditional god is called Akpolokigai. It is found in the bush behind the settlement another deity that is worshiped is Diyain. These gods are worshipped by its adherents till today.
The people of Tungbo Ebe kingdom have making tradition through there are not observed or celebrates but spread through other festivals which is being used to entertain people. The masquerades according to the people tell stories relating to animals lives like fishes, reptiles, birds and shows the culture of the people.
The kingdom of Tungbo Ebe has festivals that are celebrated. One of the Akpolokiyain fishing festival. It is according to the appearance of moon helped between January and February every year. It is four days celebration. Another festival again that is celebrated is the Diyain fishing festivals. These two festivals involve fishing in some special lakes. The people dances and do other forms of festivities all through the celebrations. The “Ebe” benemo oge festival is also one of the remarkable festivals that is celebrated by the people. It is in commemoration of the civil war between federal forces and Biafran soldiers in which several soldiers and civilians died. The war according to oral traditions affected the people adversely. They had to escape from their homes since the season in which the war occurred was bad. At the initial stage, the festival was done to attract those who abandoned their homes to return, that peace has returned to the land.