Igarras

Igarras (Igala), a large Negro people of the Lower Niger basin, whose territory extends 100 miles along the left bank of the Niger from the Benue confluence southwards to the Ibo territory, and along the left bank of the Benue to about long. 8° E., where it is conterminous with the Michi domain. They are akin to the Igbiras (q.v.) of Nupe on the right bank of the Niger, and speak a dialect of the Akpotto language common to both peoples. Next, to the Ibo this is the most widely diffused idiom in the Lower Niger region, and has been carefully studied and reduced to written form by the Protestant missionaries. Several Christian stations have been founded amongst them, and since their acceptance of the British protectorate (1887) they have agreed to discontinue human sacrifices and all traffic in slaves.