The British temporarily landed troops on shore but resistance was stiff. Eventually they retreated in their boats, one of which was captured by Kosoko's forces. At this point, only the HMS Victoria was still afloat. HMS Sampson and HMS Penelope in the first place were too big to manouvre in the Lagoon. HMS Victoria came under heavy fire but was eventually rescued by Lieut. Corbett, who was seriously wounded. The next day, the HMS Teaser, which was refloated, and HMS Bloodhound moved up to the area between the present Tinubu Square and the Bridge, from where they opened fire on the town. Soon the town was on fire and Kosoko fled with his fighters to Iddo Island. The total British casualties were two officers and thirteen men killed; five officers and seventy men wounded.

Akitoyi, Kosoko's rival, who had been waiting with his forces during the British attack, now entered and took possession of Lagos. Four days later on 1st of January, 1852, Akitoyi formerly signed a Treaty with Great Britain to abolish the slave trade and stop the practice of human sacrifice. Later the same 1852 Benjamin Campbell became the first Consul for the Bight of Benin and Beecroft went back to Fernando Po to supervise the Bight of Biafra. The New Consul Campbell was still faced with the rivalry and violent struggle for power between Akitoyi and Kosoko's followers. Akitoyi died in September 1853 and was succeeded by his son, Dosumu. In January, 1954, Campbell succeeded in making peace between Akotoyi and Kosoko factions: recognition of the house of Akotoyi as chiefs of Lagos and house of Kosoko as chiefs of Palma and Kekki.

Unfortunately, Dosumu who succeeded his father Akotoyi, was unable to stop the slave trade; at least, according to British assessment. The British now took a decision to annex Lagos to stop the trade permanently. On the 6th August, 1861, Dosumu signed a treaty giving the port and island of Lagos to Great Britain. It was a complete and absolute transfer; the British Consul became Governor of the Colony of Lagos, as it was called from that date. In return, Dosumu was placed on pension equivalent to what he received as revenue from trade at the Lagos port. Though the Treaty initially only referred to Lagos and its immediate bordering areas, soon neighbouring towns – Badagri, Palma, Kekki, etc – were gradually added to the Colony of Lagos. The pacified area grew gradually inland into a Protectorate of Lagos.

It is interesting to note that after the Colony of Lagos, no other part of Nigeria was declared a colony; instead they were described as 'protectorates'. What were the British up to? By definition, the inhabitants of a British 'colony' were British subjects in practically the same way as are the British themselves. On the other hand, a British 'Protectorate' was an area administered by Great Britain and defended by her. British Government would take up all responsibilities of government in a protectorate. Overall, on paper it would seem as if a Protectorate was a much looser form of ownership than a colony, but in practice there is very little difference. May be the British used the term 'Protectorate' to dilute legal obligations of the British Government to the new territories.

Southern Nigeria Protectorate
Southern Nigeria Protectorate came in phases. To under-stand the staggered accretion of territories to form this protectorate, there is need to remember that the influence of the kings and chiefs in this part of the country was highly localized, rarely extending beyond a town or a river. The British were particularly interested in the rivers as they offered the best form of transportation and communication then. As earlier mentioned, the first area to come under British Protection was Oil Rivers Protectorate which expanded to become Niger Coast Protectorate and eventually Southern Nigeria Protectorate, with administrative capital in Calabar all through.

It was typical gunboat diplomacy of the super powers all the way. They claim to come in peace, but when they fail to have their way, the guns would speak. Some of the notable historic characters that played a role in the creation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate were Chief Pebble of Bonny, King Jaja of Opobo and Chief Nana. The British recognised the capacity of rulers of the Rivers and, in fact, treated them as acting on behalf of the Consul. When such chiefs were not co-operating enough, they were usually deported. For instance, in 1854, the British Consul Beecroft estimated the value of goods and ships in the Bonny River at about £500,000. King Pebble's annual income from shipping dues and other activities was £20,000. According to Bureau of Labour Statistics consumer price index, today's prices in 2020 are 3,187% higher than average prices since 1850. By 2020 standards therefore, the annual value of trade on Bonny River was about £16 million or N8 billion. King Pebble insisted on having an upper hand on the trade which angered the British, the trading boats and other stakeholders. In January 1854, Beecroft facilitated Pebble's deposition; initially exiled to Fernando Po, courtesy of a British warship; next, sent to England to enjoy more comfort; later allowed to return to Bonny as a private person in 1861 where he lived till he died in 1866. Beecroft himself died on June 10, 1854, just about five months after deposition of Pebble.

King Jaja of Opobo (1821-1891) was also typical of the coastal chiefs who maintained a tight grip as 'middle-man' in the trade between the British and the interior. Jaja was born in Amaigbo in Igboland and was bought as slave at the age of twelve. Jaja was initially a slave in Bonny who later got his freedom and thereafter amassed enormous wealth. In 1872 he went to Opobo where he was recognised as an independent chief. Opobo, during his reign, dominated the regions lucrative palm oil trade; so much so that Opobo was hosting fourteen out of the eighteen trade houses. Jaja not only blocked the British from trading directly with the interior but also traded directly with Britain by shipping palm oil directly to Liverpool, independent of British middlemen. Before he fell out with the British, he was honoured by Queen Victoria and was given power to resolve trade disputes. His war canoes were armed with cannon and flew the Blue Ensign of England. In 1884, he signed a treaty by which he came under British Protection. This development not withstanding, Britain would still not tolerate Jaja's continued taxing of British traders.

Henry Hamilton Johnson, a British vice consul, invited Jaja for negotiations in 1887. When Jaja arrived, the British arrested him and tried him in Accra, from where they took him to meet Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace, London. An allowance of £800 per annum was made for him in exile. Obviously not succumbing to British pressure, he was exiled to Saint Vincent in the West Indies. In 1891 Jaja was granted permission to return to Opobo, but died at sea, allegedly poisoned with a cup of tea.

In summary, between 1880 and 1885, practically all the Coast chiefs had signed treaties with the British. Further emboldened by the Berlin Act of 1885, which recognised the present coastline of Nigeria as being British, the latter in 1885 proclaimed a British Protectorate over the coastal area called 'Oil Rivers Protectorate'. The area was generally the present eastern coast of Nigeria. Benin and the area west of it towards Lagos were not part of the protectorate. Though this protectorate was proclaimed in 1885, it was only in 1891 that it came under a firm administrative structure headed by a Commissioner and Consul General who lived in Calabar. By 1893, as the Oil Rivers Protectorate expanded further inland, the name was changed to Niger Coast Protectorate.

The British persevered in pacifying more territories inland and westwards, progressing by typical gunboat diplomacy; those years, the firepower of muskets and rifles was 'everything', while the added firepower of steel cannons was 'everything else'. It would be recalled that from the 1850s, the Royal Navy had added steel jacketed cannon to her war chest, courtesy of the two inventors: William George Armstrong and Joseph Whitworth. The British could accurately bombard rebellious towns from the safety of their ships, leaving the befuddled Africans no other option than to surrender or flee destruction. Once the rebellious chiefs were captured, they were neutralised by settling them with a pension or exiling them, or both. The stories of King Nana, who controlled the Benin River, and King Overami, the Oba of Benin, were typical of what happened to varying extents during the pacification battles.

Sir Ralph Moore, acting Consul General, tried in vain to meet King Nana to stop slave trading activities. When he arrived with HMS Alecto at Nana's headquarters in Brohemie, they met with resistance from Nana's forces. Four naval ships had to bombard the town from the sea across the swamps, forcing the defenders to flee. When the British captured Brohemie, they freed 5,000 slaves. Nana escaped and surrendered in Lagos. He was deported to the Gold Coast until 1906 and died in 1916. Similarly, Brass People in 1895 attacked Niger Company in Akassa, citing several grievances. When negotiations could not resolve the conflict, the British attacked from the sea. After initial successes by the defenders, the British finally successfully bombarded and destroyed Nimbe and Fishtown.

Pacification of Benin again followed the same pattern. During this period, slave trade was not only active in Benin but there were tales of human sacrifice, especially during some festivals. Europeans were personae non gratae, totally not welcome in the Benin Kingdom. In 1892, the British Vice- Consul, Captain Gallway, signed a Treaty with Oba of Benin to stop the slave trade and come under the protection of the British crown. By 1896, none of the agreements had been fulfilled by the Oba. The Acting Consul General, Mr Phillips, decided to pay a friendly visit to the Oba to remind him of the terms of the treaty. It was the first formal visit of a British Official since the proclamation of the Protectorate over Benin. Mr Phillips' visiting team consisted of eight Europeans (six officials of the Niger Coast Protectorate and two merchants), two clerks and 230 servants and carriers. There were no armed escorts. The team landed at Ugwato, the nearest point on navigable water to Benin on 3 January, 1897. From Ugwato, against the advice of Chief Dore of Ugwato, the Phillips' team commenced the difficult march through dense forests and swamps to Benin, completely unarmed. Close to Benin, the expedition was attacked. Phillips was hit in the first wave of attack and got fatally wounded. When the attack was over, only two of the Europeans managed to escape with their wounds. All the carriers and servants were either killed or captured.

Expectedly, the Benin massacre got a commensurate response from Britain, supervised by Sir Ralph Moore, the Consul General. A naval squadron of nine ships and a hospital ship converged on the coast while a total of 1,200 men were mobilised from Calabar, the Gold Coast and even Sierra Leone. Nowhere in the archives is their record of the British assembling this number of soldiers. The Punitive Expedition was led by Rear Admiral Rawson. He captured Benin on the 18th February, 1897. The captors unveiled extensive evidence of primitive barbarism. Juju shrines were running with human blood and decomposing bodies. The Oba and his juju priests initially escaped but were subsequently captured. Those concerned directly with the massacre were tried and executed while the Oba was deported to Calabar where he died in 1914.

The pacification of Benin was the last official function of the government of the Niger Coast Protectorate. On the 1st January, 1900, the Niger Coast Protectorate became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. It incorporated territories administered by the Niger Company south of Idah; Lagos still remained a separate colony with its own government. This is not to say that the proclamation of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria meant that the entire territory had been pacified. Far from it! The Aro were still alleged to be instigating conflicts and wars among their neighbours so as to 'harvest' the war captives, who were sold profitably as slaves. As the Aro ignored warnings from the colonial government, military action became inevitable. The centre of controversy was the Long Juju shrine of Aro Chukwu. In 1902, British military columns arrived from different directions and bombarded Aro Chukwu, leading to their surrender to British rule. In 1902 Lagos joined the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the seat of government was moved from Calabar to Lagos, though Lagos continued to retain its status as a Colony with an Administrative and Legislative Council.

At this point, the only missing territory in what is today Southern Nigeria was Abeokuta. By the treaty of 1893, Sir Gilbert Carter had guaranteed the independence of the Egbas. Up till 1906, they were still independent, with a government headed by the Alake of Egba and the Egbas were in charge of the various offices instead of Europeans. The Egbas raised their own revenue and collected taxes. Eventually the people rioted in 1912 to resist what they saw as extortion by the Alake administration. In 1914 the Alake unconditionally accepted to come under the Protectorate Government. That was the last bastion of resistance in Southern Nigeria.

SOURCE - https://theleaderap..com/2022/09/prelude-to-nigeria-biafra-war.html

following.

THE BRITISH SHOUL HAVE CREATED 6 COUNTRIES RIGHT FROM THE START. NW, NE, NC, SW. SS, SE. NO MINORITY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLACE UNDER SUBJUGATION OF A MAJORITY.