THE MIGRATION
According to O. B. Ubi (2002), and inclusive of oral tradition, the Yakurr people lived at a place called Unawomen in Akpa (Akpakpa). The Ancient Yakurr shared common boundaries with the people of Nkom and Mbiyang in the present Etung LGA, the people of Okuni (Ikom?) in the present Ikom LGA, and the ancient people of Ogo? near Uyangha in the present Akamkpa Yakurr LGA, all in Cross River State of Nigeria. The Yakurr people were forced to migrate from Umorwen to their present land through the following stages:
BETWEEN 1587 AND 1617
The Yakurr people experienced a general dislocation from their ancestral home at Umorwen. This general dislocation also affected their neighbours at Akpa, who together constituted the state of settlement described above, making the Ancient Akpa Kingdom a significant settlement within the Nigeria–Cameroon border region.
BETWEEN 1617 AND 1647
This was the actual period of the Yakurr migration from Umorwen to a new homeland, which eventually became the present Yakurr land.
The upheaval in the Ancient Akpa Kingdom also caused the migration of Nkom, Okuni, Ntolay and Mbiyang to their present locations.
BETWEEN 1647 AND 1677
The Yakurr people finally settled at Umor (Ugep), which became their present settlement and the centre of their subsequent development as a people.
The oral Traditional History of Ugep (Umor), Ikom (Nkum), Okuni (Okumo), Nsofani and Abijang (Etung), and Ogoja (Lebile) confirms that, before their migration to their present locations, they were all neighbours to one another in the Ancient Akpa Kingdom.
The place or location of the Ancient Akpa Kingdom at or near Uyangala is variously given the following names by the different people who migrated from the Ancient Akpa Kingdom:
Lenakpakpa or Akpa — by Yakurr people
Lekomkpa or Akpa — by Ogoja people
Onugi — by Ikom, Okuni, Nsofani and Abijang