Otukpo is a town in

Benue State Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is th ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

located in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria. It is also the eponymous name of a subgroup of the

Idoma people The Idomas are people that primarily inhabit the lower western areas of Benue State, Nigeria, and some of them can be found in Taraba State, Cross Rivers State, Enugu State, Kogi State and Nasarawa State in Nigeria. The Idoma language is classi ...

. Otukpo is the

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of the Otukpo Local Government Area. It was the headquarters of the former Idoma Province, and remains an important town in Idomaland, an area mainly populated by the Idoma speaking people, though with numerous local dialects spoken in the diverse reaches of Idoma land. Otukpo Idoma language is the umbrella lingua. Otukpo is the seat of the Och' Idoma, the

Paramount Ruler {{Use American English, date=December 2018 The term paramount ruler, or sometimes paramount king, is a generic description, though occasionally also used as an actual title, for a number of rulers' position in relative terms, as the summit of a f ...

Idoma of the Idoma Nation. The Present Traditional Ruler of Idoma is His Royal Majesty Ogbodo John Elaigwu. Though his legitimacy as Och Idoma is been questioned by large Section of the Idoma Elites, Traditional District Heads, and Youth. As at the time of publication the case is sai to be in court. Elaigwu Ogbodo was a card carring member of th
PDP
and a close ally with the Deputy Governorship candidate and Chairman John Ngbede. It is said Ngbede was very instrumental to his emergence as king.

Climate

Otukpo has a tropical savanna climate. It is warm every month with both a wet and dry season. The average annual temperature for Otukpo is 64° degrees and there is about 244 inch of rain in a year. It is dry for 169 days a year with an average humidity of 61% and an UV-index of 7. The climate is tropical in Otukpo. The average annual temperature in Otukpo is 27.2 °C. In the month of August, the average temperature is 25.5 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year.

Religion

The people of Otukpo are predominantly

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Christianity came into the town during the colonial era. The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church is the pioneer church in the land and is popularly referred to as

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

'ufada' (the Reverend Father's church). The

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

is also popular in the area. Of late, there has been proliferation of

Pentecostal churches Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

by the indigenous people of Otukpo. The Abu family in Otukpo town are the first indigenous Idoma people in Otukpo that embraced and practised Islam. Other Idoma indigenes that practised Islam in Otukpo are the Sule Ujor family, Sule Audu and the Samsudeen Amali family. Also, the family of professor samsudeen Amali of Upu village are of the Islamic faith.

Transport

Otukpo is served by a train station on the national railway network as well as numerous bus and taxi services such a
Benue Links
Ejifa Transport, Silver Travels, Pleasure Travels, Calculux and Ifesinachi which travel to every major city in Nigeria daily.

Some prominent places in otukpo

* Ogobia, * Upu, * Otukpoicho, * Otobi, * Adoka, * Oyagede, and * Akpa-Igede.

References

http://www.idoma.info/history.php {{Authority control Local Government Areas in Benue State

Climate

Religion

Transport

Some prominent places in otukpo

See also

References