Arochukwu Cross River Nigeria

The other major slave-exporting state is a loose confederation under the leadership of the Aro, an Igbo clan of mixed Igbo and Ibibio origins, whose home is on the escarpment between the central Igbo districts and the Cross River.

Beginning in the late seventeenth century, the Aro build a complex network of alliances and treaties with many of the Igbo clans.

They serve  as arbiters  in villages throughout Igboland, and their famous oracle at Arochukwu, located in a thickly wooded gorge, is widely regarded as a court of appeal for many kinds of disputes.

By custom the Aro are sacrosanct and are allowed to travel anywhere with their goods without fear of attack.

Alliances with certain Igbo clans who act as mercenaries for the Aro guarantee their safety.

As oracle priests, they also receive slaves in payment of fines or dedicated to the gods by their masters as scapegoats for their own transgressions.

These slaves thereby become the property of the Aro priests, who are at liberty to sell them.

Besides their religious influence, the Aro establish their ascendancy through a combination of commercial acumen and diplomatic skill.

Their commercial empire is based on a set of twenty-four-day fairs and periodic markets that dot the interior.

Resident Aro dominate these markets and collect slaves for export.

They have a virtual monopoly of the slave trade after the collapse of Oyo in the 1820s.

Villages suspected of violating treaties with the Aro are subject to devastating raids that not only produce slaves for export but also maintain Aro influence.

The Aro have treaties with the coastal ports—especially Calabar, Bonny, and Elem Kalabari—from which slaves are exported.

The people of Calabar are Efik, a subsection of Ibibio, whereas Bonny and Elem Kalabari are Ijaw towns.