Ewa Abagi and the Betrayal at the Cross River

In the olden days, Ewa Abagi lived in Inkum, a settlement beside the Cross River. She was known throughout the surrounding communities for her beauty and wealth. Through trading in palm kernels and camwood, she had become a prosperous woman. Her journeys to different markets also brought her into contact with many people, and she attracted considerable attention wherever she went.

Although several men offered to marry her, Ewa refused their proposals. She preferred to manage her own affairs and was in no hurry to become anyone’s wife. Among her admirers was Chief Awor of Insofan, a wealthy and respected leader who had heard many accounts of her beauty. He eventually sent a message asking her to marry him.

Ewa did not reject his proposal outright. She replied that she was expecting a child and could not travel to Insofan immediately. Once the child was born, however, she would make the journey and consider becoming his wife.

Ewa Abagi Receives Chief Awor’s Proposal

Ewa eventually gave birth to a daughter. Shortly after the child’s arrival, she purchased a young enslaved woman named Mossim to care for the baby while she continued her trading activities.

The child, Essere, grew up under Mossim’s care. For six years, Ewa remained occupied with her business, travelling between markets and trading in the goods that had made her prosperous. Her marriage arrangement with Chief Awor remained unresolved, but she had promised to visit him when the time was right.

When Essere reached the age of six, Ewa decided to travel to Insofan. She dressed herself and her daughter in their finest clothes and prepared for the journey. Mossim accompanied them, carrying their belongings.

Their route took them across the river to Okuni before they continued overland towards Insofan. Near their destination, they reached the Abum River, where Ewa decided to bathe. It was the dry season, and the water was shallow enough for them to walk and wade towards the Cross River.

Ewa placed her cloth and beads on the ground before entering the water. She washed Essere and then asked Mossim to scrub her back.

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Mossim approached her from behind. Instead of helping her mistress, she suddenly pushed Ewa into the Cross River. Ewa disappeared beneath the water.

Mossim Takes Ewa’s Identity

Essere witnessed what happened and immediately began to cry. She was only a child and had just watched her mother disappear into the river. Mossim, however, showed no concern for the girl’s distress.

She warned Essere not to cry and instructed her to call Mossim her mother from that moment onwards. She promised to treat the child well, but threatened to punish her severely if she revealed the truth to anyone in Insofan.

Mossim then dressed herself in Ewa’s clothes and ornaments. She gathered her own clothing into a bundle, placed stones inside it and threw it into the Cross River. She wanted anyone who later discovered the bundle to believe that the woman wearing Ewa’s clothes had been the person who drowned.

With Essere beside her, Mossim continued the journey to Insofan. She went directly to Chief Awor’s house and announced that she was Ewa Abagi, the woman he had asked to marry. She introduced Essere as her daughter.

Chief Awor welcomed the visitors. However, he was disappointed by the appearance of the woman who claimed to be Ewa. He had heard so much about her beauty that he had expected someone very different.

The people of Insofan also heard that the chief’s intended bride had arrived. Many came to see her because Ewa Abagi was already well known. When they met Mossim, they were surprised by her appearance and openly questioned whether she was the woman they had heard so much about.

Among those who visited was a young man who had previously travelled down the river for trade. He knew Ewa personally and recognised Mossim as her enslaved attendant. He immediately informed Chief Awor of his suspicion.

The chief did not rush to accuse Mossim. Instead, he decided to postpone the marriage and make further enquiries. He wanted to discover whether the young man’s claim was true.

Essere Finds Her Mother at the River

The following morning, Mossim sent Essere to fetch water from a spring. She placed a water pot on the child’s head and instructed her to return quickly.

Essere did not go straight to the spring. Instead, she returned to the place where Mossim had pushed her mother into the river. She sat down and began to cry, calling for Ewa.

To the child’s surprise, Ewa emerged from the water and spoke to her. She painted Essere with okukum, a substance named in Dayrell’s account, and helped her arrange the water pot before returning to the river.

Essere carried the water home. Mossim noticed the substance on the child’s body and questioned her about it. She also wanted to know why Essere had taken so long to fetch the water.

The girl remained silent. Mossim warned her not to delay again, but Essere continued to remember the place where she had seen her mother.

The next day, she returned to the same spot with her water pot. She called for Ewa repeatedly, but her mother did not appear at once. A man nearby was making tombo, a palm wine mentioned in the original account, in a tree. Ewa could see him, and she did not want to emerge while he was watching.

Eventually, she could no longer bear to hear her daughter crying. She came out of the river, helped Essere lift the water pot onto her head and disappeared into the water again.

The man in the tree had witnessed the encounter. He recognised Ewa Abagi and understood that the woman living in Chief Awor’s house was not the real Ewa. He climbed down and went straight to inform the chief.

Chief Awor Organises the Rescue

Chief Awor now had reason to believe that Mossim had deceived him. He summoned the young men of Insofan and explained that Ewa Abagi had been seen emerging from the Cross River.

He instructed them to prepare for an attempt to recover her. He also promised a celebration, with food and tombo, if they succeeded.

The chief then spoke to Essere. He explained that she could help bring her mother out of the river safely. When she went to fetch water the following morning, she was to carry the filled pot away from the river and take it a short distance into the bush. Once there, she should call for her mother to come and help her.

The plan depended on Ewa responding to her daughter’s call, as she had done on the previous occasions.

Before dawn the next morning, the young men went to the area and hid along both banks of the Abum River. They waited quietly, taking care not to reveal their presence.

Essere followed the instructions. She went to the river, filled her pot and carried it away from the water towards the bush. Once she had reached the agreed place, she sat down and called for her mother.

Ewa heard her daughter’s voice. Concerned that Essere might be struggling with the water pot, she emerged from the river once more.

This time, the young men were ready. As soon as Ewa appeared, they surrounded her and caught her before she could return to the water. They had finally found the woman who had disappeared beneath the river.

They brought Ewa back to Chief Awor, ending Mossim’s attempt to pass herself off as the wealthy trader.

Mossim Faces the Consequences

After Ewa’s recovery, Mossim was seized and tied to a tree. Chief Awor accused her of attempting to kill her mistress and taking her identity.

The original account states that she was found guilty and condemned to death as a sacrifice to the water spirit, which Dayrell called the water ju-ju. The young men who had rescued Ewa were then given Mossim.

They took her to the place where she had pushed Ewa into the river. There, they killed her and threw her head and body into the water.

Dayrell connects this punishment to a practice described in his account of the district: the killing and burial of enslaved people alongside their deceased owners. He presents it as a warning intended to prevent enslaved people from attempting to kill those who controlled them.

The story therefore ends with Ewa’s recovery and Mossim’s death. It does not describe a trial in the modern legal sense, nor does it present Mossim’s fate as an act of justice that should be repeated. The violence reflects the social order and beliefs recorded by the colonial-era writer.

Ewa had been presumed drowned, but her daughter’s repeated visits to the river kept their connection alive. The young man’s recognition of Mossim exposed the deception, while Essere’s actions gave the rescuers the opportunity to recover her mother.

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Moral Lesson

Deception and betrayal can bring suffering to others, while careful observation and courage can help uncover the truth. Essere’s love for her mother played a decisive part in bringing Ewa’s disappearance to light.

Knowledge Check

1. Where did Ewa Abagi live?
Ewa Abagi lived in Inkum, a settlement beside the Cross River.

2. What goods did Ewa trade?
She traded in palm kernels and camwood.

3. Who was Mossim?
Mossim was a young enslaved woman whom Ewa acquired to care for her daughter, Essere.

4. How did Mossim deceive Chief Awor?
She pushed Ewa into the Cross River, put on Ewa’s clothes and ornaments, and claimed to be the woman the chief intended to marry.

5. Who recognised Mossim in Insofan?
A young man who had travelled down the river for trade recognised her as Ewa’s attendant.

6. How was Ewa rescued?
Essere called for her mother at the river while the young men of Insofan hid nearby. They surrounded Ewa when she emerged and brought her to Chief Awor.

Source

Adapted from “How Ewa Abagi, an Inkum Woman, was Drowned in the Cross River, and how She was Rescued by the Young Men of Insofan,” in E. Dayrell’s Ikom Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1913), Chapter VIII, pages 17–19.

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