The folk land known today as Lamma was once a hunting ground for the Sagbee and Kugong who lived in the mountain ranges where they had lived since they dispersed from Yorro long ago. It can be remembered that people lived in the mountains as protection against bad weather, security against attacks from enemies and also from dangerous wild beasts, as the flat lands below the mountains were thickly covered with thorns and forests. More than this, even during the slave trade, many people avoided living on exposed land, preferring to live in the mountains until such time as world conditions changed and then the movements of people on the top of the mountains down into the flat earthers began to work everywhere. on earth.

It was at a certain time when several people were dispersed from Sagbee Zaapa, Yusaapa and Depu to the present land of Lamma when an outbreak of smallpox epidemics occurred in Sagbe which killed many people which caused some of them to flee to the plain to escape from the smallpox epidemics that killed many of them. That is why they were nicknamed “Tavoh”, that is, the people who fled to escape smallpox epidemics. Saakoro Bongetah’s grandfather was one of the people who fled from epidemics to Lamma Tavoh.

Saakoro was a wealthy personality and popular with his people in Tavoh. He had many married wives from different Mumuye clans and one of them was from Dong, the sister of Nyarisiruvini. Because of his wealth, people came to him from different places and he received them and fed them with food. He allowed many people from far away to come and live.

where he lived. Due to his fame, he befriended Damasi in the Binyeri district.

The introduction of British colonial administration, Yola Province Before the arrival of the white man in Adamawa, many people were able to move and live freely. More people joined the Tavoh group living in the present-day Lamma area and others were moving in because the slave trade raids were dying down a bit and British traders were finally coming. They then began to organize the people into chiefdoms, districts, and divisions as they saw fit. They then carved Lamma, Binyeri, Monkin and Dingding under Yola to pay taxes to Yola Province.

Mumuye’s account of temporal history and culture (2008) notes that:

Tahiru Gudu, a trader from Gudu in Song north of the Benue River, came to Mayo Faran and stayed there with Mumuye Gboore happy and at peace. When Adamawa’s Royal Niger and Lamido company put him in charge of collecting taxes from Mumuye. He ruled from Mayo Faran to the Binyeri area; Lamma, Dinding, Monki-Bansi, Dandii, Dong and Sensi-Dong, among others.

Due to the size of the Mayo-Faran chiefdom, he appointed a number of local chiefs and village heads under him to help him collect the taxes. Among the local chiefs and appointed village chiefs, he named himself Saakoro.

Chief to rule the Lamma area Including the mountainous region. Meanwhile, Saakoro Bangetah also divided his chiefdom in two and ruled the Mumuye Plain while he handed over the hill country to Nyaa Rivini, his brother-in-law in Dong, to rule.

Leading Yola’s reorganization into five divisions, Mumuye was in the fifth division. The division combined the Fulani districts of Mayo-Faran and Mayo-Belwa with the pagan districts (as they were called) of Bachama, Mbula, Bata, Waka, Mumuye and Chamba, with headquarters at Numan and Chukkol. In 1911, Lunguda and Pin were returned to Yola Province and the following year (that was in 1912), the independent Pagan Division was resurrected, incorporating modern Numan with Yugur, Yandang-Waka, Mumuye and Chamba. In September 1912 the title was changed to Numan District according to Kirk-Greene (1958).

Kpanti Saakoro fought with Mobasso, the leader of the Chamba Binyeri. Whenever the Mumuye were working on the farms, the Chamba would secretly come and steal their children and even some adults to sell and such action continued for some years until the time when the British administration in Yola began. Saakoro in retaliation against Chamba, Binyeri summoned his Sagbee and Dong mountain people and waged a war against Mobasso by meeting Chamba at the fishing ground along Gangtakani, confluence of the Binyeri rivers. There were many casualties which caused Mobasso to report Saakoro to the white man at Yola.

The white man brought the two leaders together to find out the root of the problem. First Mobasso explained his case and then Saakoro; He counted the number of dead or people who were robbed by Chamba. Saakoro used his old records to convince the white man. Saakoro records superseded Mobasso’s and Mobasso was blamed, then the white man finally resolved the issue and the two groups became friends from that time to date.

HOW TAHIRU SONG CHANGED DISTRICT HEADS UNDER MAYO-FARAN

Mumuye Contemporary History & Culture (2008) indicates that after the death of Saakoro Bangetah, Lamma district Tahiru knew the importance of politics. He later wanted his own sons to rule instead of the native Mumuye. She did it in a cunning way, first marrying Gonglaa Mumuye’s daughters to him and his sons just to soften his feelings and then rejecting them. He maliciously sent Hammaselbe, his first son, in charge of Mayo Faran, his second son Zubeiru was sent to replace Saakoro Bangetah to control Lamma, Dingding and Monkin districts. He issued the third son of his to rule Jereng-Bajama, but left the Chamba man to rule the Binyeri district.

Zubeiru, the son of Tahiru song, controlled Lamma, Dingding and Monkin districts for some years and resigned in 1927, then went to Mecca and died there. The merger of Yola and Muri took place in 1926 forming the then province of Adamawa. Mumuye de Mayo Faran would be placed under an area. The resident in charge of Adamawa Province through the DO, Mr. DR Ross, was drawing a map and planning how the Mumuye would be united under the Zinna district in the Muri division. The boundary on the map was from the Binyen Ravine – Lamma River to the Jereng area or boundary. The assassination of the head of the Zinna district in Sensi-Dong was during that time when the new areas of Laxnma, Dingding and Monkin had not yet been officially handed over to the Muri Division and this was stated in the Adamawa Province resident’s report. to Kaduna (11 Aug 1932 P 146).

It was after the merger of Mumuye, which was cut from Mayo Faran to Muri, that a native of Lamma became Lamma chief again and that Lamma chief was Kpanti Kotto of Tavoh, Sagbee clan. He ruled for a few years and left, then Kpanti Makonyoko Shiiwi replaced him. Makonyoko was also from Tavoh – Sagbee Clan. Makonyoko then gave leadership of him to the former Dogari of Saakoro Bangetah, who was called Kofa Dogari. Kofa Dogari was from the Mangkoodi rank subclan. He married the kpanti’s daughter Makonyoko and Makonyoka wanted his mother-in-law to replace him. After the death of kpanti Kofa of Koyu, kpanti Rookoba of Rank replaced him.

From the time when Zinna in Muri Division was in full control of Lamma, Dingding, and Monkin districts, the chiefs of these three places became ordinary village chiefs instead of district chiefs as they were before. However, a man from Tavoh Sagbee known as Wakili Jallo was officially appointed Lamma District Chief by the then former Governor Barde of Gongola State (see attached document dated 29 September 1983). This appointment was canceled by the Bamanga regime in 1983 the same year. From now on, all the heads of Lamma, Dingding and Monkin are known as village heads.

FAMILY TREE OF THE CHIEF OF LAMMA IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF Z1NG.

Saakoro Bangetah

kotto

Zubeiru Makonyoko

Kofa Koyu (VH)

Rookoba (VH)

Wakili Jallo (Hakimi)

(1983)

Silvestre, Wakili (VH)

Mohammadu (VH)

SAGBE SUB-CLANS

1.Aali

2.Tavoh

3. Mapusi

4. Zaapa

5.dafe

6.Nweye

7. Shōboti

8. Yukopo

9. Yusaapa

DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAGBE CLAN

Different Sagbe clans are spread across Nigeria. Some of these clans are found mainly between the states of Taraba and Adamawa in Nigeria and some parts of Cameroon. Below are the local government areas where these people reside:

A) Taraba State, Nigeria

Yo. Zing Local Government Area

ii. Yorro Local Government Area

iii. Ardo-Kola Local Government Area

IV. Bali Local Government Area

B) Adamawa State, Nigeria

Yo. Mayo Belwa Local Government Area

ii. Jada Local Government Area

iii. Ganye Local Government Area

IV. Tongo Local Government Area

C) The Republic of Cameroon

Yo. Ngaundere in the Republic of Cameroon