Yakurr

The Yakurr (also Yakö and Yakạạ) live in five compact towns in Cross River State,Nigeria. They were formally known as Umor, Ekoli, Ilomi, Nkoibolokom and Yakurr be Ibe. Due to linguistic problems encountered by the early European visitors, the settlements have come to be known by their mispronounced versions – Ugep, Ekori, Idomi, Nko and Mkpani (Okoi-Uyouyo, 2002). In the latter, it is a product of yakpanikpani (a Lokạạ word for "tricks"), a name, which Enang (1980) says was given to them by the Ugep people after being tricked in a conflict.

Yakurr people are predominantly found in territories that lies between latitudes 50 401 and 60 101 north of the equator and longitudes 80 21 and 60 101 east of the Greenwich Meridian and 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Calabar, the capital of Cross River State. They are found in the present-day Yakurr Local Government Area and constitute the largest ethnic group in the state. They share their northern and eastern boundaries with the Assiga, Nyima and Agoi Clans of the Yakurr Local Government Area, the southern boundary with the Biase Local Government Area and their western boundary with the Abi Local Government Area.

By 1935, Yakurr had a population of 22,000 and 38,000 by 1953 (1939, 1950, and 1964; Hansford et al. 1976; and Crabb 1969). The population numbers of Yakurr based on the 1991 national census were rejected by the local and state government due to discrepancies. The results of the 2006 census by the Nigerian government about the current population are still pending.

The language spoken by the Yakurr is Lokạạ, an Upper Cross River language. It is described by Iwara (1988) as one of the major languages of Cross River State, comparable, in terms of number of speakers, with Efik, which enjoys the special status of a lingua franca in the state. According to Ethnologue, it was spoken by 120.000 people in 1989.

The Yakurr exhibits a very high degree of social heterogeneity, but linguistic, political, religious and cultural homogeneity. In the absence of written records, linguistic, political, religious and cultural homogeneous patterns are the most dependable evidences of establishing descent and biological connections.

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