SUMMARY
Oshiri Community is one of the five communities that make up Onicha Local Government Area in the present day Ebonyi State in Nigeria. The Community is broadly divided into two sections of EBIA and UVU. The Community also comprises sixteen villages which include Umuorie, Umuimam, Agbabi, Isiinkwo Umugbala, Amaokpara etc. The traditions of origin of Oshiri has it that the founder of Oshiri was Ezekpechu the son of Ugo-eze who migrated from Ekpelu in Ikwo Local Government Area in the present day Ebonyi State. The name Oshiri is derived from the word “Oshimiri” which was as result of Ugo-Eze’s re-collective experience of crossing a big river called Ebonyi with the half-brother Onyikwa Igbo-Eze to found Oshiri. The Oshiri area is 25 square miles approximately. On the East and North Oshiri is bounded by the Ezza, on the North-West Agba and Isu on the West, Isu and Onicha on the South-west, Onicha and on the South, Ugwulangwu and Ezza.
Prior to colonialism, the indigenous political structure of Oshiri people was based on the family unit which had developed into a kindred and from a kindred into a group. Oshiri is a united body of people, geographically, historically and socially. Its structure was arranged on agricultural needs. The lowest functioning unit was the family which consisted of a man, his wife/wives and children living in three houses in a compound. In many cases, a compound may contain twelve or sixteen houses. Generally, not all those who lived in a compound were closely related. While families live in a group in one compound the oldest man was and still recognized as a compound head. The next functioning unit was the kindred. These were people who lived as a group of related compound in a village. The eldest men of each compound known as Ogirinya (Elders) formed a village council to settle petty village disputes. Associated with them in the council was the Age-grade known as Ogbo Ojeje – men of 45 years and above who did most of the talking during meeting, while Ogirinya just sit and listened but interrupted at any time they considered that the customary law was being infringed. The highest functioning unit was the clan council. When the village council found itself out of its depth, or when the question of issues that concerned the clan as a whole arosed or when the parties at dispute were of different kindreds, the clan council met usually at Umuorie (the senior village) to discuss the matter. There were also different Age-grades who carried out different functions in Oshiri. They include Ogbo Ojeje consisting of men of 45 years and above, Ogbo Neche Ogbo (company who guard the village). They arrested malefactors and exercised the powers of a native police force, Ogbo Ejirim and Ogbo Api (uncircumcised boys from 16 years below). The age grade in pre-colonial Oshirii generally performed the following, functions – they arrested criminals, exercised the power of native police force, clearings of road paths etc.
