"August Meeting": Remembering Aba Women's Riot [This Is Culture]

« Aba Women’s Riot » is the story of one of the greatest crises of British colonization in Nigeria.

It all started in Oloko, on November 18, 1929. The British administrators decided to impose a special tax to the Igbo women’s market, and began counting the inhabitants in all villages. This was enough to spark off two months of revolt.

Using a centuries-old tradition of muzzling men with songs and dances, literally termed as “sitting on a man”, these women forced local leaders to flee, attacked European-owned shops and Barclays banks, stormed into prisons to free prisoners and even burned administrative centers.

Their story has been portrayed in a stage play titled “August Meeting”, that narrates the aftermath of the events. Chioma Onyenwe, the producer, tells us more about this « Ogu Umunwaanyi », a « Women’s war » in Igbo.