Okigwe

Okigwe is a city and local government area in Imo State in south-eastern Nigeria, described in the cited article as the third largest city in the state after Owerri and Orlu. It lies on the Port Harcourt, Enugu and Maiduguri rail line and is the nearest city to Nigeria's largest cattle market, which has made it a major cattle transit town for the South-East and South of the country; the Imo State government recommissioned a new cattle market there in 2016. The 2005 census counted 132,237 residents, many of them immigrant workers from other states. The area is made up of six autonomous communities, Ezinachi, Ikigwu, Otanzu, Umulolo, Ihube and Otan-Chara, each with its own villages. The hilly farmland has red clay and dark brown soils and supports terrace cultivation of oil palm, cassava and vegetables, so Okigwe is counted among the breadbaskets of Nigeria. St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, and the city was the main host site of the old Imo State University, now Abia State University.