Aba Women’s Riot (2021, digital media)

Aba Women’s Riot of 1929

Led by women in the provinces of Calabar and Owerri in southeastern Nigeria in November and December of 1929,  the “Aba Women’s Riots of 1929” (in British colonial history) or the “Women’s War” (in Igbo history), took place. The “Women’s War” took months for the government to suppress and became a historic example of feminist and anti-colonial protest. 

The roots of the riots can be traced to a series of events that unfolded beginning in January 1, 1914, when the first Nigerian colonial governor, Lord Lugard, instituted the system of indirect rule in Southern Nigeria. Under this plan, traditionally elected Igbo chiefs were replaced by “warrant chiefs,”  appointed by British administrators to rule locally. 

Within a few years, the appointed warrant chiefs became increasingly oppressive. They seized property, imposed draconian local regulations, and began imprisoning anyone who openly criticized them. Although much of the anger was directed against the warrant chiefs, most Nigerians knew their power came from British colonial administrators. Colonial administrators added to the grievances of the locals when they announced plans to impose special taxes on the Igbo market women. These women were responsible for supplying food to the growing urban populations in Calabar, Owerri, and other Nigerian cities. The Locals feared the taxes would drive many of the market women out of business and disrupt the supply of food and non-perishable goods available to the populace. 

In response, thousands of Igbo women decided to protest the warrant chiefs and special taxes. In November 1929, they congregated at the Native Administration centers in Calabar and Owerri as well as smaller towns. Using the traditional practice of censoring men through all night song and dance ridicule (often called “sitting on a man”), the women chanted and danced, and in some locations forced warrant chiefs to resign their positions. The women also attacked European owned businesses and broke into prisons and released prisoners. Additionally, they attacked Native Courts run by colonial officials, burning many of them to the ground. Colonial Police and troops were called in. They fired into the crowds that had gathered at Calabar and Owerri, killing more than 50 women and wounding over 50 others. During the two month “war” at least 25,000 Igbo women were involved in protests against British officials.

The Aba Women’s war prompted colonial authorities to drop their plans to impose a tax on the market women, and to curb the power of the warrant chiefs. The Women’s War is considered the first major challenge to British authority in Nigeria and West Africa during the colonial period.

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