Hello Kubur and thank you for the information and kind words on the cleaning of this piece. Niger was where the seller had indicated this knife had originally originated from, but as I could find no other examples from that area that matched this piece I thought it best to ask.
Do you know if the missing toe piece for this scabbard would have been made from the same thin steel sheeting as the upper scabbard band? There is no evidence that a leather piece was ever sewn on in that area, but there is a shadow (for lack of a better term) of were some form of toe piece would have originally been. Can you possibly tell me what if anything other than knife that this might have been called by? Again, thank you very much for your response and the information you have given. Anyone else out there have any photos of other examples of this style of knife and scabbard or other information that you would like to share on this piece?
Best,
Robert