The Boki people (Bokyi) (also known as Nki) are a tribe found mainly in Cross River State, Nigeria and border of Cameroon.
The Boki people are predominantly farmers who are also forest-dependent.
They speak the Bokyi language, one of the Bendi languages.
The global population of the Boki are 310,500 in 2 countries. The Bokyi of Nigeria are numbering 300,000 (Peoplegroups.org, 2025)
Boki shares boundary with Ogoja, Obudu,and Obanliku in the North and bounded with Cameroon to the East while the Western parts of the Area is bounded with Ikom and Etung.
The local Government consist of 6 traditional clans Irruan, Osokom I, Osokom II, Boje, Eastern Boki and Abo. Boki has 11 political wards Buda, Njua/Borum/Oku, Alankwu, Bunyia/Okubuchi, Boje, Beebo-Bumaji, Buentebe, Ekpashi, Kakwagom/Bawop, Abo and Ogep Osokom.
The Boki People give the region different traditions and customs that are unique to the district. Traditional dress for men consists of loincloths and a white long-sleeved shirt with a broad hat. Some men also carry a walking stick. Women usually wear wrappers or a blouse, and head scarf.
Major events include the Boki New Yam Festival, Alobe festival in Irruan and Etcen in Borum & Cassava Festivals.
Music and dance are common in Boki culture and are played during festivals as well as social occasions. Common instruments include: the Obam, Mgbe, Ndugho, Etcheh, Atam, Obon, Bekarim, Awaribo, Obashi and Enya-Atu. Other traditions include inter-village cultural dance, festivals, age-grade meetings, burial ceremonies and communal farming.
Boki is notorious for its practice of male and female circumcision as well as forced marriages. In July 2000, female genital mutilation was made illegal by the government of Cross River State in an attempt to stop violence and abuse against women. The penalty for such actions is a fine of up to 10,000 naira (US$62) or a prison sentence up three years.
The vast wildlife habitats within the thickly forested vegetation and unique topology of Boki continue to interest environmental activists as well as conservationist groups. The Okwango Division of the Cross River Park, set up by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), was established in Boki.
Over the years, Boki has had communal wars, most recently in 2010 in a farmland tussle between the Nsadop and Boje communities. The war claimed an estimated 230 million naira in property damage, about 400 people died, and approximately 6,000 people were affected by the war. The government took over the rebuilding processes of the village, building hundreds of two-bedroom flats as compensation for the burnt or demolished houses of over 6,000 victims. Damaged fence walls are still being reconstructed and homes are still undergoing repairs, including destroyed and looted furniture and fittings using relief funds.
As one of the locations with fertile soil, Boki thrives in both subsistence and commercial farming such that Boki is the highest producer of yam, cassava, plaintain, banana, pineapple, maize, fruits, melon. On cash crops, Boki is the second highest producer of Cocoa after Etung, Timber, Kolanut, and other economic trees.
Boki is also known for its traditional African markets and many towns have their own market days, such as in Okundi, Ntamarte, Kakwagom, Wula and Katchuan.
In the olden days, the celebration of Boki New Yam Festival was led by the worship and sacrifice to the gods of Asu Kechi and Ada Kechi, Nfam, Obol and the traditional masquerade, called Atam. But with the coming of the Catholic Irish Missionaries, a lot of Boki people have embraced Christianity and Catholicism, discarding some traditional worship of gods, while retaining the aesthetics and cultural milieu of the Bokyi people.
The New Yam Festival is celebrated with fanfare and celebration of life. It begins with harvesting of the new yam from the farm in the early morning of every 18th August, preceded with some sacrifice to specifically Asu Kechi and Ada Kechi.
Today, many take their harvested new yam to Church, preferably the Catholic Church, where a Priest will preside over the thanksgiving and celebration. Then, this is followed with cooking of pounded yam alongside vegetable soup, mainly Eruru Soup, known as Afang Soup by the Efik/Ibibios and Okazi Soup by the Igbos. Boki is blessed with the highest concentration of Eruru/Afang/Okazi leaf. The pounded yam could also go with Egusi Soup or Bene Seed Soup. The cooking is followed by feeding visitors, drinking of Palm Wine, dancing of traditional dance such as Kokoma and Eyantu. The retention of these cultural norms foster bond, unity, love and a communal sense that enhance development among the Boki people.
This festival mark the end of the greatest famine of all times. This festival is being practiced inIrruan Clan of Boki Local Government Area. Irruanclan which is also known as “Erue” migrated from their original location into a new settlement due to some historical difficulties among the ancestors. As a result of wondering for a new home, the people were forced into a very dangerous famine which came alongside hunger, sickness and increased death outbreaks. The people suffered for long before being blessed with the gift of COCOYAM which is known as "Kukuú oni korùn". History has it that the people ate this crop and survived the famine. The Alobe festival takes place between the months of May and June as the three groups that make up the Clan celebrates the occasion on different dates in appreciation for the gift of Fruitfulness and survival.
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