13 Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group in Nigeria

Shomo is a northeastern ethnic group with little known about them. So far, the only knowledge about them is their state of residence. Other facts about them still remain a mystery to many. Today’s post will be about 13 Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group in Nigeria.

13 Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group

These Shomo people’s interesting facts will help broaden your knowledge about this hidden tribe and culture in Nigeria. A key factor you will get to know is some added facts about the Shomo people’s state of residence.

13 Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group in Nigeria

With the Following facts below, you can learn interesting things about the people of Shomo ethnic group in Nigeria;

1. State of Residence in the Country

Taraba states is a state in northern eastern Nigeria. The name of the state is from the Taraba River which stretches to the southern part of the state. It is the state of residence of the Shomo people.

2. Local Government Area

Taraba state has sixteen local government areas with a local government chairman governing each local government area.  These sixteen local government areas are home to numerous ethnic groups in Taraba state including the Shomo people tribe.

They are Ardo Kola, Bali, Donga, Gashaka, Gassol, Ibi, Jalingo, Karim Lamido, Kurmi, Lau, Sardauna, Takum, Ussa, Wukari, Yorro, and Zing local government areas.

3. Population is Among the Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group

2,294,800 is the population estimation of Taraba state. It is crowded with 77 tribes and more but one of the least populous states in Nigeria. It is the 30th most populous of the 36th state in Nigeria.

4. Language

Their main language is the Shomo language though it is nearing its extinction time due to the fact that the majority of them abandoned the language for other languages like fulfide language.

5. Religion

The largest religion is ethno-religion. They prefer to worship their ancestral origin than believe in any other god. The remaining few that do not practice ethno-religion practice Christianity as well as the Islamic religion.

6. Ethnicity; Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group

Affinity Bloc: Sub-Saharan People.

People Cluster: Benue.

People Group: Shomo.

Ethnic Code: NAB56b.

7. Belief

One of their strong belief and practice is that of animism. They believe they can contact the spirit through inanimate objects. Sometimes, they perform all forms of ritual like deliberately leaving items on their doorsteps so spirits can have free passage when they want to come and visit.

8. Economy

Generally, they are a poor people group but are developing in terms of agriculture. They grow as crops like tea, groundnut, and cotton. While food crops include cassava, sorghum, yam, and maize, as well as rice. They are also rich in poultry production like egg and do pig and rabbit breeding.

9. Occupation is Another Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group

Their major occupation is farming followed by fishery. They also specialize in cattle rearing while some of them offer services to other people like the women offering cleaning services to homes in need of cleaners. The females provide money to cater for their needs as well as their children’s needs.

10. Natural Resources

The natural resources in Taraba state that the people of Shomo have access to are Bauxites, gypsum, mica, gemstone, pyrite, limestone, kaolin, graphite, feldspar, as well as barytes.

11. Health Centres

  • First referral hospital.
  • Courage hospital.
  • Biyama hospital.
  • Albert health centre.
  • Sauki hospital and maternity.
  • Gateway hospital.

These health centres can be found in different regions of Taraba state in different local government areas and towns as well.

12. Tribes; Interesting Facts About the People of Shomo Ethnic Group

Southern tribes: Tiv, Kuteb, Ichen, Jukun, and Chamba.

Northern tribes: Fulani of Muri emirate.

Central tribes: Fulani, Mambilla, and Jibu tribes.

These tribes above are the most dominant tribe of Taraba state. The Shomo tribe is not popular neither are they large. There are other tribes that fall into either the southern region or the northern region or the central region as well.

13. Clans

There are no notable clans in the Shomo tribe. They are not as organized as other tribes in Nigeria and usually gather together wherever location they find themselves but not as a clan or subgroup. They identify themselves mostly by their languages.

Conclusion

The Shomo people are no longer unreached with these facts. You now know some basic facts about their people.

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