Era 0 — Conquest & colonial (1900–1960) — Imo State

Aro Expedition spillover into Owerri Province (Jan – Mar 1902) — Festing's southern column sweeps from Aro through Bende into Mbaise and Owerri; oracle priests deported, slave-trade routes broken.
Mbano Patrol (1905) and the Akpan-Ekpo "Hut Tax" disturbances (1907) — small-scale armed resistance to direct taxation in Mbano and Ezinihitte; warrant chiefs Okugo and Ojiako prominent.
24 November – 16 December 1929 — Aba Women's War (Ogu Umunwanyi) — sparked at Oloko (Bende) on 24 Nov; spreads to Owerri, Aba, Ikot Ekpene, Opobo. Over 50 women shot dead at Utu-Etim-Ekpo and Opobo on 16 December. Native Court at Owerri burned; warrant chief Okugo deposed. The Aba Commission of Inquiry (1930) recommends abolition of the warrant-chief system.Impunity Loop
1938 Owerri Tax Riots — second wave of anti-tax protest against the Native Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance; warrant courts at Mbaise and Etiti attacked.
1929–1949 manilla parallel-currency persistence — Owerri and Aba markets continue to quote prices in manillas through to Operation Manilla (1948–49) when the colonial state demonetises 32.5 million units. See How the currency fell before the flag.