The Eze Nri was a divine priest-king whose power was mystical, not military. In Nri belief, spilling blood was an alu (abomination) that polluted Ala, the Earth goddess; therefore Nri people were forbidden to carry weapons. His sphere of influence, the Odinani Nri, reached its height between about 1100 and 1400 and covered perhaps a third of Igboland, with echoes among neighbours such as the Igala and Benin.
He sent out specialist priests — the Ndi Nri or Ozo Nri, recognizable by their ichi facial scarification — who arbitrated disputes between villages, cleansed communities of abominations and conferred titles such as Nze na Ozo.