IThey are seen in the minds of Ivorians as a rebellious people who during the colonial period expressed a categorical refusal to allow white men to enter their lands.
The abbey people located in the south of Côte d'Ivoire, whose regional capital is Agboville, have a history that rhymes with that of a fierce opposition to submission and servile exploitation linked to colonization. Posterity will remember for a long time this funny story where in 1910, the abbey would have assassinated Rubino, a colonist who after being killed, was cut into pieces and was cooked then consumed to give a warning to the colonial administration. This is to mean to the whites that the abbey cannot sell off their integrity and their dignity in the name of any mission of civilization. History will also remember that it was this people who opposed the fiercest resistance to colonial penetration, which resistance lasted more than ten years (1906-1916). But in fact, who are these supposedly rebellious people who, they say, do not hesitate to express their disagreement, often in a cruel way? What is the reality on this case of cannibalism where a white man would have been eaten by the abbey in the wake of what history now calls the revolt of the abbey? Through a visit to this region, Expression went to draw on the source of information where our reporting team was able to meet notables who were able to restore the facts in all their historicity. These guardians of tradition have lifted a corner of the veil on the history of the Abbey-Krobou people and on the Rubino affair, which ended up giving its name to a locality in this region.
The abbey, a rebellious people?
The abbeys are part of the Akan group and like the other members of this large ethnic group, they came from Ghana in the 17th century and settled south of the Comoé River, precisely in Ery-Makouguié. Agboville is a city created by settlers after the evacuation of the populations of the village of Ery Makouguié because of the malaria epidemic. Quickly this small city becomes the main military post of the Abbey township. After the uprising of the populations, this locality becomes in 1916, capital of the circle of Agnéby which contains the subdivision of Agboville and Adzopé. The department of Agboville, which has become the regional capital, now includes the sub-prefectures of Azaguié, Oress-Krobou, Rubino, Grand Morié and Cechi. Certain historical facts experienced in this region are sufficient to say that this area was the cradle of disputes and opposition to the colonial administration under the leadership of Félix Houphouët Boigny. In 1944 for example, the African Agricultural Union (SAA) was created in this region, precisely in the agricultural camps of Joseph Anoma and Gabriel Dadié. The colatier (tropical plant producing the cola nut) under which the Saa creation meeting was held has lost none of its greenery. This colatier who has conquered the ravages of time still stands proudly in the domain of Gabriel Dadié, father of Mrs. Hortense Aka Anghui, on the Agboville-Tiassalé axis. This tree has become a place of pilgrimage for activists of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (Pdci), a political party that emerged from the bowels of the Saa. Henri Konan Bédié, president of this formation did not fail to go and bow at the foot of this tree, full of history during the visit he made to this region from September 9 to 19. On what should henceforth be called the Rubino affair, Nanan Okoma Calvaire, retired employee of the COTIVO factory and member of the notability of this locality recalled the facts as they were told by his father who was a key player in the revolt. For him, the abbey are not rebels, much less cannibals. According to this guardian of tradition, the abbey values his honor, his integrity and his dignity like the apple of his eye. It is when one wants to undermine these values which are cardinal to him that he shows his hidden side. With his eyes immersed in memories of his childhood, this sixty-year-old recounts with relish this story as he received it from his father around the wood fire.
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