Before Colonization
Before colonization either a king or a priest king would rule over the Ibo land. Some villages were run solely by an assembly of common people. Also, there were secret societies run for religous purposes and law was settled by the "spirits". The largest political group consisted of 5,000 elders, lineage heads and wealthy men. The way that the spirits would tell if a person was guilty or not was based on whether a person died in a certain amount of time. If a person did not die in a certain amount of time, then they were set free, or if found guilty other wise then they were sent into exile or a servitude to a god or goddess. In addition, the Ibo villages were organized by age grade, peer groups.
After colonization, kings were introduced into some communities. Warrant chiefs helped to oversee the actions of the ibo people. Also, Christianity had a huge impact in colonization. The introduction of Christianity made it easier for the British to colonize the Ibo land. In addition, the British also brought the idea of jails and having to go infant of judges instead of "spirits".