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The individual historical accounts that state that the Okun people migrated from Ile-Ife is very popular and highly accepted among the people. In the version of Yagba oral tradition for instance, the man who led a group of people to their present location was sent from Ile-Ife to establish the settlement but did not return over a long period of time to give an account of his expenditure. 

When he eventually returned and explained that he lost larger part of his acquired land to some other migrants, he was blamed for the loss. He responded thus in Yoruba, Ìyà àgbà ló jemí, the clause from which the name Iyagba or Yagba was coined. Ade Obayemi however opined that the Okun people are aboriginals in the Niger-Benue confluence and may not have migrated to their present location from Ile-Ife.The turn of events that followed the Nupe military incursion of the 19th century left the Okun people as minorities in the Northern Region of Nigeria, separated from their relatives in the southwest. Not much is known now about the Okun people even among other Yoruba subgroups. Furthermore, some still hold the opinion that they are not Yoruba. This opinion, however, cannot be correct since the Okun people speak obvious Yoruba dialects, can still trace their roots to Ile-Ife by oral traditions, and share similar cultural traits with the other Yoruba groups. These reasons and more have made historians like Ann O’ Hear call attention to the need for further research on the Okun people and their history.

Historically, Okun people lived in small social-political units with unfixed political boundaries that allowed social, cultural and commercial interaction. Till date, villages of hundreds or a few thousand people are scattered all over Okun land. Okun people are spread across six local government areas in Kogi State, namely: Kabba-Bunu, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopamuro, Ìjùmú and Lokoja local government Areas.