Otaru means the owner of the land.

After the death of Ariwo Ovejijo, Izuse the grandson of Idede and hence from Andede family was believed to be the next Otaru. This could be due to the fact that Idede either must have joined his ancestors or was very aged. At this time, ascension to the throne of Otaruship was not according to age but according to the fame of the man, his contribution to the wellbeing of the people of Igarra and provided the first child of the candidate is not a still-born. He must also have his toes and fingers complete and must not have been an ex-convict. Finally, he must be the choice of his family.

This was and is still the practice in the nomination of Otaru among the five ruling families whose turn it is to produce Otaru. The oracle is sometimes consulted when it becomes difficult to choose successor to the throne. There are occasions when it does not favour a family whose turn it is to produce a leader. The next family in the order of seniority is then consulted to produce an Otaru within a specific period. Failing which another family next in line is consulted until an Otaru is produced.

It was believed that an Otaru is usually a very clean man free from blemish whose tenure of office is usually long. An Otaru was known to have reigned for more than eighty years. He died at the age of One Hundred and Fifty years. It is also on record that no Otaru has ever ruled less than 10 years except one. After the death of Ariwo Ovejijo, twenty Otarus were known to have reigned including the reigning Otaru,m Oba E. A. Saiki II

It is evident from the above chronological arrangement of the past and present Otaru that the ruling house came from the descendants of the first children of Ariwo Ovejijo – viz: Idede, Agada, Ogu, Avaka and Idiba.

During the Nupe invasion of second half of the 19^th century 1867 – 1890, it became difficult to live in one place; hence the Igarras decided to live in formidable groups irrespective of the family one belongs to. This was supposed to have been a war tactic whereby enemies cannot take the whole inhabitants by surprise. The tactics become disadvantageous to some families who were completely wiped out. These include the Anupata, Eziakeja and Anupayi families, Anumaraye, Eziakosi, Anoverewa and Anoseri families could also have suffered the same casualty. This would have been responsible for the femso of these families. Because of the above reasons people in Uffa, Uttua and Igbogbo were kept in confinement.

During the Nupe invasion of second half of the 19^th century 1867 – 1890, it became difficult to live in one place; hence the Igarras decided to live in formidable groups irrespective of the family one belongs to. This was supposed to have been a war tactic whereby enemies cannot take the whole inhabitants by surprise. The tactics become disadvantageous to some families who were completely wiped out. These include the Anupata, Eziakeja and Anupayi families, Anumaraye, Eziakosi, Anoverewa and Anoseri families could also have suffered the same casualty. This would have been responsible for the femso of these families. Because of the above reasons people in Uffa, Uttua and Igbogbo were kept in confinement.

During this period, it became difficult for one Otaru to effectively control three major quarters of Igarra – Ugbogbo, Uttua an Uffa quarters, for fear of the enemies. This was during the reign of Otaru Aine 1862-1879. As a result of this, two Otarus were elected each from the Royal Family as customary to take charge of Uttua and Offa respectively.

The most senior Otaru at the time has jurisdiction over the whole Igarra people while the junior Otarus, only govern the quarters in why they are. They however, liase with the most senior Otaru through their chiefs or elders because of the custom that forbids the Otarus seeing too frequently. For example, at the time when his Highness Ashibowas was senior Otaru, Osuwa and Aiteka were elected junior Otarus. Other Otarus that reigns simultaneously with each other were Aido, Aibobo, and Idanage. After the Nupe invasion those Otarus that joined their ancestors were never replaced as life was then returning to normal. This is evidence by the fact that after the death of Aido, three Otarus ceased to reign. Aibobo died as a junior Otaru. After the death of Aibobo, only Idanage was left, who was junior to the then senior Otaru – Aido: He (Idanage) automatically became the senior Otaru and the sole ruler of Igarra after the death of Aido. He joined his ancestors in 1966.

During the reign of the then Oba of Benin – Ahenze popularly known as (Anovas) by the Igarras, when Aidokai from Andede family was Otaru of Igarra, emissaries were sent to him to collect tribute and royalties. This was resisted by the then Otarus as he owed no allegiance to the Anovas. This was about the middle of 17^th century. The same mission was again repeated during the reign of Eresiyen, at the time Olubukai was Otaru of Igarra – about the first half of 18^th century. This again met with resistance. During the first attempt in which there was no success, the Anovas (Binis) camped in the present site of Okpe and other camps were erected all around the then Kurukuru. These camps could have been what is now the present site of Okpe, Ikpeshi, Sabongida-Ora, Afuze etc. camps of people who were either afraid or ashamed to go back to Benin since their missions failed.

Still on the families that make up Igarra the Royal family: Andede, Eshinagada, Eshinogu, Eshinavaka and Andiba are collectively called Eziezu as mentioned earlier. Eziakuta, Eziedu and Ezioga families are collectively called Eziobe, a nickname derived from their prowess in hunting. They are hence nicknamed children of hunter. These three families in Igarra worship the god of hunter known as Ori-Asau or Idowo. The chief priest of this god is the senior Oseh, who is also regarded as the head of these families. He is a member of the Igarra Town Council (comprising all the heads of each family including any other person so chosen by the reigning Otaru), who presides over the town council meetings. The name Oseh-Idu which was the name of senior Oseh (with a suffix-Idu) among the three families was corrupted to Oshidu. This was later (1962) converted to a title name in Igarra which now represent the head of the three aforementioned families (Eziakuta, Eziodu and Ezioga). This title now rotates among the three families above. The Eziakuta family play a very significant role in Igarra which is worthy of note. They brought guinea corn to Igarra during the migration. They are hence accorded that respect by Ariwo Ovejijo to fix the dates for new yam festival and the “Etare”. They appease the god of the soil before new yams are eaten or brought into the public places like market (Osisiakumemete).

The Anonyete family were very good rain doctors. In the times of poor harvest due to poor rainfall and during an epidemic breakout, the Otaru would consult with the Oshemdase (the rain-doctor) to appease the god of rain. They are hence nicknamed Igureyinreyin. Anoseris, Anoverwas, Eziakosis and Anumaroyes are very few in population with Anumaroye and Eziakozi the fewest. These families were victims of the Nupe invasion and could also be attributed to the fact that most of their descendants were females that got married and absorbed into other families.

As a result of this, most of these families have been absorbed into bigger families. A few, however still retain their Original Names. The mass reduction in the family of Anoseri was not only as a result of the Nupe invasion or the latter reason given above, but also due to fate that befell them in the mid-19^th century after the feast of an Echetete. The story is that a self-acclaimed elder of the family (who was supposed to be a slave) was refused to appease their dead fathers and mothers on behalf of the family. This revelation was made known by the surviving eldest woman in the family who by custom was not allowed to perform this obligation, being a woman. This self-acclaimed (slave) father of the family was banished from the home and driven away. In retaliation he went into hiding and cut a bunch of unripe palm-nut (Iresuase) which he hung with a strong rope, as a diabolical spell capable of killing all the adults of the family. As the nuts fell out of the shell people died. If three nuts fell three people would die, if five then five people would die. This callous design was discovered later after many had perished. The nut was cut and wrapped with a white cloth as instructed by an oracle man. This saved the people from total extinction. This family, (Anoseri) has now found its feet and is gradually increasing in population.

The Eziakeja, Anupayi and Anupata families were mostly victims of the Nupe invasions, These families are no more in existence. They are extinct due to the devastating effect of the slave trade/war with the Andokinis and Anaziomos (the Nupes).

The Anona family came much later to add to the remaining families. This brought the number of families to be fifteen excluding the three extinct families in Igarra. This Anona family was believed to have come through the present Epe where they resided for quite sometime before deciding to join their brothers in Igarra. Before their departure from this area, they had acquired many skills in trading and blacksmithery. They are hence nicknamed “OSsina” Oshaga”, and “Oziotu” (meaning the person who was buys and sell and the child of blacksmith) respectively “Otu” means blacksmith but this is now a title name for the head of this family as against the senior Saiki that was traditionally regarded as the head of the family. This group of family occupies only Ugbogbo quarters and few or even none at all in Uttua and or Uffa quarters.

In his post installation speech, His Highness Igodi promised to uphold and co-operate with all Igarra to achieve peace; that on condition that  he dies earlier in the stool than his predecessors, he would appeal to the god of peace in the world beyond on behalf of the successive Otarus for peace at Igarra. Truly, Igodi did not last as long as his predecessors. He joined his ancestors after about a brief reign. Before his death he cursed Omeme that he would not die a natural death. This was fulfilled as he died from explosion of his creditor’s gun powder when he refused to pay his debt. Whichever version of the arrival date of these Anona family gained ground the truth is that they arrived much later than the other families and this aspect needs further investigation. They may, perhaps have been part of the migration that stopped over at a place not far from one of the Yoruba speaking tribes.  This must account for some of their Yoruba traits, the Yoruba marks being the most prominent. Their Ikko dance is also alien to the Igarra music as they alone understand the language of the music.

The arrival date of the Anona family to Igarra has not been clearly defined as there are two schools of thought regarding this. One reveals that they arrived in the mid-18^th century when Ainyinoto was Otaru, about 1768 before the Anaziomo’s invasion. The other version believes that they arrived during the reign of Ainoje. This was about 1857. On arrival, because of their wealth, their leader (that is the man who led them to Igarra) become very influential. His name was Omeme Saiki. At the time when Igodi was to be crowned Otaru, Omeme who was very friendly with Igodi was sent to the senior Ukana from the Eshimozoko family, where he misrepresented both parties. He succeeded in convincing the kingmakers not to crown the Otaru, his reason being that they also could be crowned Otarus.  Since the lot fell on Agidi as the next Otaru and the date fixed for crowning should not be changed, the absence of the senior Ukana on the crowning day led to the most senior Okomayin from the youngest ruling house (Andiba) performing the crowing ceremony. (Hence the Arigede song – Isene Eshimozoko neto Idiba Osiosi) meaning what Eshimozoko family threw away has been taken up by Idiba family.