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How the Boobe people came to the island of Bioko, which our ancestors once called Etula a Eri.


The lost children of Bioko island

Why the origin of the Bubi people is considered controversial

It is believed that the “Bantu” came from the sources of the Nile, Ubangui and Congo. Among the groups are the union of Pygmies and the Camites or Ethiopians. The second group consists of the Negritos themselves and the Hottentots [Khoisan], the latter group being the most numerous. The first group, of taller stature and lighter colouring, is made up of the Bamasa, the Sangana, the Nzemzem and all the Fang, including the Yaounde, the Bulus of Cameroon, the Ntumu, the Bujeba, etc. The second group includes the Ibalas, Batangas, Subus, Gumbas of Cameroon, the Pongües of Gabon, the Bengas, the Kombes, Balengues and Bapukus and finally the Bubis of Fernando Poo.

What is known as “The Great Bantu Expansion” is said to have began as a result of the external pressures of a Slave trade beginning, coming at this stage from the Arabic speaking empire, and also the expansion of desert land in the region. The journey is said to have lasted over 200 years and led them in a south-westerly direction.
 

The departure of so many people travelling through the nearly-impassable African jungles, meant that people split up into smaller groups. 

 

Those who would end up at Bioko island travelled down the Sanga River, changed direction, passed the Molundu, Misum and headed further downstream the sources of the Kom River, a tributary of the Ntem or Campo River, and continued on their way without leaving the banks of the Campo. They reached the Atlantic. Here they made a halt and settled at the mouth of the Campo River and Kribi (Cameroon) for some time.

After reaching the shore, some of these tribes settled in the surroundings of Campo river, with access to fresh water, crops and healthy environment, the settlement and the populations increased. It was not long before others found out about the spot, and more powerful tribes diverted their attention towards capturing people for the slave trade form the area. Eventually, seeing their settlement invaded, the people decided to change their habitat in order to escape.

The Journey To Bioko

There are few versions of the story.

The first, very old, legend states that the first group travelled on foot from the Cameroonian coast to the island that is a distance of about 32 kilometres. This group was able to travel because the last glaciation had not yet taken place in fact it was not due for more than eleven thousand years.

The second version states that the group travelled using rafts made of tree trunks and palms which they perfected a long time ago, they use those boats and rafts to reach the shores of the mountain they could just about see on clear days in the ocean.

Öbáasa peak

Different tribes settled in the surroundings of Campo river, the access to fresh water, crops and healthy environment helped in their settlement and the populations increased. It was not long before others found out and more powerful tribes diverted their attention towards the new uprising settlements seeing the Bubis invaded, they 

decided to change their habitat in order to escape from slavery. The chiefs of the various sub-tribes met to discuss the case, resolving by common consent to leave those lands. And since on clear days 

they could see the Öbáasa peak of the island of Fernando Poo (Bioko), which, with its 3008 metres of altitude, loomed gallantly in the serene sea, they began preparations to establish their settlement there.

 

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The Ba'ábba

The Ba’ábba is considered the first to set foot on  Etula a Eri land. As soon as they reached the inlet between the villages of Baaó and Abebo formed by the points of Soledad and Salvador, they moored the cayucos and, jumping ashore, immediately went up to the plateau or 

plain which today we call the valley of Moka and which the Bubis know by the name of Ri’aábba and established royal settlements there.