Bende

Bende is a local government area in Abia State, southeastern Nigeria, with its headquarters in Bende community, also known as Amaeke. The area is made up of thirteen communities: Alayi, Bende, Ezeukwu, Igbere, Item, Itumbuzo, Nkpa, Ntalakwu, Ozuitem, Ugwueke, Umu-imenyi, Umuhu-Ezechi and Uzuakoli. The 2016 population census recorded 192,621 people in the local government area as a whole. It is bounded in the north by Cross River State, Afikpo and Ohaozara, and in the south by Arochukwu and Ohafia, with Ikwuano and Umuahia local government areas on its east and west. Agriculture is the main occupation, and Bende is a major rice producing area of Abia State. The climate is tropical, with a hot, humid dry season and a warm, overcast wet season, and the wetter half of the year runs from late March to early November. GeoNames lists the town of Bende as the seat of its second-order administrative division. Politicians such as Orji Uzor Kalu and Benjamin Kalu, and the former securities regulator Arunma Oteh, are among the people associated with Bende.