Loo, Gomu and the British

An episode from early colonial Nigeria

Abstract

Loo and Gomuare two small ethnic groups living in the Muri Mountains of Northern Nigeria. In the early British colonial era, such "pagan" groups were brought under administrative control by military means, at times with devastating results. New sources – a private letter by a young colonial officer as well as locally recorded songs – make it possible to present such an incident more accurately than before.