They are also known as the Owan people in Edo. It is reported that Okpameh (also called Uguan), son of Oba Ewaure, left the Kingdom of Benin after being ordered not to commit murders. He went to the northern part and settled in a certain place which he called Odorlerene (somewhere in present-day Ora).
Okpameh was a very powerful and famous hunter who was respected for killing the fearsome leopard (Ekpen). He married Lady Uokha, who bore him a son, whom he named (due to the circumstances of his birth) Ora Ekpen. Ora Ekpen then gave birth to children who form today’s Ora community. Okpameh later received news of the death of his brother, who was previously the Oba of Benin.
It was said that his brother died without an heir to the throne.The elders of the Kingdom of Benin sent embassies for Okpameha to come and take the throne. Okpameh, who initially rejected the offer, finally accepted it after, any requests and some signals.
Okpameh travels to Benin and leaves behind his son Ora Ekpen, he was then crowned Oba of Benin and given the name Oba Ozolua. This now made every descendant of Gold a prince. Oba Ozalua died a few years later. At his funeral, his first son Ora Ekpen insisted that he take his father’s body to his Odorlerene, but his younger brother, Crown Prince Esigie objected, saying that the body should be buried in Benin.
After much debate, it was decided that Oba Ozolua’s body should be buried in the Oba’s palace in Benin, but Ora Ekpen retained his senior position. This position includes, among others, Ora Ekpen and his descendants who do not bow to the descendants of Esigie (the two chosen ones). From that day on it was sealed and remains so today.
