Item (pronounced eetem), is one of the communities in Bende
Local Government Area in Abia State, Nigeria. It shares boundaries with Akeze (in
Ebony State) in the North, Nkporo in the East, Alayi in the West, and Abiriba
and Igbere in the South.
village market at Apanu
The people of Item initially settled in a place called
Potopo after a brief stay at Igede. They could not stay long at Igede because
they could not find a certain 'precious' stone known as 'akom'. Potopo is on
the Eastern part of Abam and Biakpan. Akom was a pre-historic stone used in
making knives, hoes, spears and other farm implements as well as defensive and
destructive weapons. It was in Potopo that they found 'akom' in large quantity.
But they had to leave Potopo due to some circumstances. They first arrived at
Bende. While there, they could not find any 'akom' and because of that they
decided to leave and continue their journey. When they took off from Bende, after
a long journey they became very weak and tired and decided to rest. While
resting, the witch and native doctors treated the sick and took time to make
sacrifices to the gods. It was believed that the people spent many months, if
not years there since they were able to build huts for some of their gods and
also for themselves. This resting place was known as Ozuzu-Ike-Item (meaning resting
place for Item people), now known as Ozuitem.
When hunters and witch doctors could not find any 'akom',
even though the land was very fertile, they decided to leave. As others were
still contemplating on what to do, Okoko left in search of a better land. When
they arrived at the present site they saw that the land was not only fertile
but also had 'akom' in abundance. The entire area stretching down to the
present site where Amaokwe is now located, was occupied by different people,
and only force could determine if Okoko could settle there or not. At last they
conquered!
Shrine at Okoko
Item community consists of nine villages; Apanu, Akanu,
Amaekpu, Amaeke, Amaokwe, Okagwe, Okai, Okoko and Umuakpa. Each village (in
present time) is made up of autonomous communities with Eze (king). Okpi of
Item is the overall eze for all of Item.