Iman Annang and the Food Taboos

The early history of the Annangs is from oral traditions. The group is related to the Efiks and the Ibibios It is believed that they all originated in ancient Egypt and through various wars and conquests were pushed south into the Sahara Desert. They moved across the desert and some settled in the upper West African region about 7500BC. Remnants of their language according to Waddell can be found among the Egyptians. (Waddell, 1893) Another evidence of their Egyptian origin is found in the burial customs and veneration of the dead. Migration brought the groups to live among the Twi of Ghana where the name Annang means fourth son.  From Ghana, the group moved eastward and settled among the Igbos before moving to Southeast Nigeria. It was in the Cameroon highlands that the group broke off and some group became known as Kwa and later called Ibibio. It is believed that the group that remained took an oath of solidarity to be together and bonded to fight whatever was seen as a common enemy. Lineages were recognized and the groups organized themselves into clans based on old family origins known as Iman much like their Igbo neighbors.

The following are some of Iman Annangs and their food taboos. Eka Abiakpo clans do not eat turtle. The Afaha people forbade its members from eating the (Nserise) squirrel. They identified with the quickness and intelligence of the animal. Other examples of clan groups and their food taboo are:Ukana: python, (Asabo) Ekpenyong albino Python, (Ibom), Ikpe, snake (Uruk- Ikot), Utu, a kind of bird(Ebom), Midim African black bird (Nto Osung) Other Annang clans  chose vegetables as their food taboo. Thus Ika has sweet yam (anem) and Nto Edino has the river reed (Nyama). The food taboo was so important to the Annang that it was used as a distinguishing characteristic to locate the origin of an individual and to separate one Iman from another Children learnt as part of the socialization process that a particular Iman are people living in a particular geographical area with a given food taboo.