Minna

Minna began as a Gbagyi settlement on Paida hill, in the country north of the Niger. A local explanation connects its name with Gbagyi words concerning fire and remembers a custom of putting out and spreading fire at a yearly observance. Gbagyi communities lived among the hills of this region, where village rulers and elders held authority. The settlement's hilltop position was characteristic of the older pattern of habitation in the surrounding country.