Illah
Illah is a small town located on the bank of the River Niger, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State of Nigeria. It is situated on a table-land, some twenty-five kilometres north of Asaba, the State capital. Illah is one of the Ibo-speaking towns in Delta State, whose people belong to the Western Igbo Ethnic group who are often referred to as Anioma people or Delta Igbos. Illah has as her immediate neighbours, Ebu to the North, Asaba and Ugbolu to the South, Akwukwu-Igbo to the West and the majestic River Niger to the East. The town is made up of ten villages, namely Umuagwu, Umutei, Ajaji, Ukwumege, Umutedem, Onya, Ukpologwu, Ogbe-Obi, Ogbe-Olu and Ogbe-Orji. The Illah people trace their origin to three different sources. The three sources of ethnic descent which the Illah people lay claim to include Igbo, Igala and Benin: (i) The Igbo Descendants: Umuagwu, Umutei, Ajaji, Umutedem, Onya, and Ogbe-Orji (ii) The Igala Descendants: Ukpologwu, Ogbe-Olu (iii) The Benin Descendants: Ukwumege
- The Igbo Origin (i) Umutei-Edem, Umutei, Ajaji and Umuagwu These four quarters were the first to settle at Illah. They are assumed to be of Igbo extraction, even though according to oral tradition, it was their mother who was Igbo, while their father was of Igala origin. A plausible version of the town's oral tradition claims that a man called Ifikuanim Eri, who was the second son of his father's children, had several children, among whom was Ika-Eri, who founded Omo-Ika-Iberi, (meaning ‘the market of a man called Ika of Eri’). The name Omo-Ika-Iberi metamorphosed into what became known as Itormorka, which the Illah people recognise today as the original land occupied by their ancestors, the first settlers in the town. Eri had a son called Illah, who, in turn, begot five children from his two wives. The first wife begot Edem, Utei, and Nwabukwu (Ajaji), while his second wife had two children for him: Iyagbo and Agwu. These children eventually became the founders of the different villages which bear their names.