lasted from 1897 to 22 April 1899, where Ologbosere surrendered at the border village of Okemue. The first kingdom to be attacked by the British was the Kingdom of Ekpon. Ekpon launched a fierce resistance against the British invasion on 22 April, leading to months of skirmishes. After the initial British invasion into the Kingdom of Expon became bogged down, the kingdom of Ekpon led an ambush of the British camp at Okueme, on 29 April. This led British forces to retreat, consolidate their power, and defeat and kill Ologbosere in May. Subsequent attempts by the British failed as well: conquests into Irrua, for example, led to an adoption of a guerrilla warfare strategy followed by a retreat; this method was so successful that other Esan kingdoms adopted it and the British did not invade Esanland until 1901. On 16 March 1901, the Kingdom of Uromi, headed by the old, yet intelligent Onojie Okolo, was attacked by the British. The Uromi response, led by Prince Okojie, was swift and employed guerrilla warfare. After a short time, British forces captured the village of Amedokhian, where Okolo was stationed, and killed him. This angered Prince Okojie so much that he killed the Captain of the British troops before reinforcements were brought in. The British then realized that Uromi was nigh impenetrable without native help, and contact local sympathizers such as Onokpogua, the Ezomo of Uromi. This succeeded in kidnapping Prince Okojie out of the forest and sending him to the British offices at Calabar. This process was duplicated in most of the kingdoms that fought with Britain; guerilla warfare was excessively used by the Esans, resulting in prolonged battle time in spite of inferior weapons, and reinforcements from Benin City for the British. Even when villages were captured, internal resistance was fierce; continued guerilla warfare in Uromi forced the British to release Prince Okojie. The British responded by razing several villages they had captured. Finally, in 1906, Esanland submitted to British rule, and the thirty-four kingdoms became the Ishan Division in the British colony of Nigeria. Performing arts/music Esan dance is dominated by the Igbabonelimhin, an acrobatic dance performed mostly by young males. Igbabonelimhin involves spinning and somersaulting to a timed beat. The mode of operation varies amongst Esan villages. This slight clash can be seen on fixed days for performances. Under normal circumstances, Igbabonelimhin is performed every two weeks of the