Aerial view of Abeokuta in 1929
In the mid-19th century, the area that would become southwestern Nigeria was a land of many tensions. The British presence in Lagos increasingly clashed with the interests of the Egba people of Abeokuta, an independent Yoruba state at the time. Unwilling to relinquish their independence, the Egba viewed the British expansion with immense mistrust.
The ensuing disputes over trade, autonomy, slavery, and religion culminated in the violent Ifole Uprising of 1897. It was a pivotal moment that significantly affected the relationship between the Egba and the British, as well as the spread of Christianity in the region.
The Annexation of Lagos
In August 1861, Great Britain annexed Lagos as a Crown Colony. This event profoundly exacerbated the fears of the neighbouring Egba people about possible further encroachment into their own land. Abeokuta is situated strategically on the Ogun River, which was crucial in connecting the interior to the coast.
However, the presence of a powerful colonial administration right next to them threatened to undermine their sovereignty as well as control over trade.
Indeed, the new Lagos colonial administration tried to exert influence in Abeokuta, but their attempts were met with fierce resistance. For instance, Lagos sought to post a British Vice-Consul to the inland city, but the Egba traditional leadership vehemently rejected this.
A diplomatic standoff, set on the Ogun River, thus ensued. Egba traders, seeking to make it clear to the British administration that it should back off, began to conduct robberies against Lagos merchants plying the river. This disrupted the flow of trade and even resulted in armed conflicts.
The Fugitive Slaves Issue
While the British presence in Lagos posed immediate threats to the Egba’s sovereignty through territorial proximity, an even more contentious issue emerged through the colony’s stance on slavery.
The Egba economy depended heavily on slave labour. So, they were deeply offended by the Lagos administration’s refusal to return escaped slaves who sought refuge in the British colony. This refusal also created tensions over compensation.
Amidst the controversy, the publication Iwe Irohin (established in 1859), which was the first newspaper ever published in Nigeria and owned by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries in Abeokuta, became a platform to promote pro-Egba sentiment, and it was mainly used to criticise the Lagos government’s policy.
Henry Townsend, a prominent CMS missionary, went so far as to condemn Lagos Governor Henry Stanhope Freeman’s handling of the fugitive slave issue as morally deficient. Specifically, he described them as the “selfishness of a man without God.”
Lagos, however, didn’t budge and continued to offer protection for fugitive slaves from Abeokuta and other lands.
The colonial office sent Commodore Wilmot to resolve the dispute, and in May 1863, he visited Abeokuta with the Acting Governor of Lagos, Captain Mulinner. According to Wilmot, “the two great questions… which have caused most of the disagreements are the Custom dues and [domestic] slavery”.
Thus, he suggested making an agreement with Abeokuta by either sending the slaves back (with the condition that they would not be subjected to ill-treatment) or paying a proper price to redeem them. Mulliner disagreed with Wilmot on this.
The Armed Hausa Police Force
Captain John H. Glover took over from Mulliner as the Acting Governor of Lagos and was initially more determined and forceful than his predecessor. He adopted an even more hardline approach towards Abeokuta, especially by building up Lagos’s military strength.
Sir John Hawley Glover (1829–1885)
Earlier in February that year, Governor Freeman had begun the enlistment of what was known as the Armed Hausa Police Force in Lagos. The men enlisted in this force were comprised mainly of former Egba slaves who had escaped. They were then armed by the British and tasked with going physical against their former masters.
Glover took active charge of this enlistment, and by June, 40 Hausa men were in the force. This group of soldiers, known as Glover’s Hausas or Glover’s Forty Thieves, metamorphosed into the Nigerian Army.
In response to the Ogun River robberies, Glover also imposed a 2.5% export duty on all goods bound for Abeokuta, and he prohibited the export of arms and ammunition from Lagos to the interior. This law affected Abeokuta not just because of Lagos but because it exposed the Egba to attacks from the Dahomey kingdom and Yoruba neighbours.
Despite his forceful approach, Glover, popular among Lagos natives, also took a major step to appease the Egba and restore smooth trade by temporarily sanctioning the restoration of fugitives to the Egba in 1864.
However, in March 1865, tensions escalated into open warfare at Ikorodu, a strategic town along the trade route, where the Egba army clashed with the Lagos administration’s Hausa soldiers.
The Ikorodu battle was decisive, with the well-trained Hausa force, with troops made up of former slaves who were still embittered against their previous owners, inflicting a crushing defeat on the Egba.
Trade Breakdown and the EUBM
In the aftermath of the battle, the Lagos administration under Glover permanently ceased the return of fugitive slaves to the Egba. Abeokuta retaliated by closing the Ogun River to all export trade to Lagos, effectively imposing a blockade.
They [Abeokuta] also established customs houses at Isheri and Gbamaya on the Ogun River, not only to levy duties but also to actively prevent the flight of slaves to Lagos (the river provided cover for escaping slaves). Robberies against British subjects by the Egbas escalated into kidnappings by the same, further straining relations.
Against this backdrop, there was an organisation that played a significant role amidst the tensions: the Egba United Board of Management (EUBM). Formed by educated Sierra Leonean emigrants and led by the visionary G. W. Johnson, the EUBM aimed to modernise Abeokuta’s government along European lines.
EUBM members envisioned a unified Egba state with a centralised administration, a modern legal system, and infrastructure development. They also sought to promote peaceful relations and open trade with the British. However, the EUBM came to be viewed with suspicion by both traditional Egba leadership and the Lagos administration.
By 1866, the situation had reached a boiling point. The Egba petitioned the Governor-in-Chief of the British West African Settlements, Major S. W. Blackhall, to reverse Lagos’s policies. He responded somewhat positively and abolished the 2.5% export duty imposed by Glover.
This move was welcomed by the EUBM, which, in turn, declared the Ogun River free for trade. However, the underlying tensions remained unresolved. The Egba’s imposition of duties on goods exported from Abeokuta was, however, deemed unacceptable by the Lagos government and Captain Glover.
Also, the Egba’s petition to Governor Blackhall to reverse the policy on fugitive slaves was unsuccessful, further solidifying their resentment.
The Riots
This prolonged trade disruption heightened tensions, setting the stage for the violent eruption in 1867.
Between 1866 and 1867, Glover, in a move perceived as a major provocation by the Egba, stationed Hausa soldiers along strategic routes leading to Abeokuta up to Ota and Isheri. This action was taken ostensibly to protect British subjects.
The Egba, however, viewed this as a blatant intrusion into their territory and were particularly angered because the soldiers were their former slaves.
On October 13, 1867, the simmering tensions finally exploded.
To pressure the British government to soften its stance, the EUBM had leveraged missionary influence by ordering all churches in Abeokuta to close. Specifically, it was an act of protest that sought to convince the British Queen Victoria to recall the Governor of Lagos.
This drastic measure had serious unintended consequences. Riots erupted around mission stations, churches, and the homes of Christian converts.
Buildings were ransacked and destroyed, giving the uprising its name, “Ifole,” meaning “the breaking of houses.”
The Aftermath
The acts of violence forced European missionaries to flee Abeokuta. Christianity itself was officially prohibited for several months in Abeokuta, although congregations of converts continued to meet in secret.
And while the Methodist chapel was reopened in August 1868 (the Anglican church at Ake was opened in January 1869), European missionaries did not return to settle in Abeokuta for another 13 years.
Notably, the Iwe Irohin printing press was destroyed during the uprising, and the newspaper ceased publication. The last Iwe Irohin was published on 2nd October 1867, and it took six decades before another newspaper was established in Abeokuta.
For the Egba, the riots symbolised both resistance to external control and internal challenges to their governance and societal structures. The violent backlash against Christianity disrupted missionary activities for over a decade, delaying its entrenchment in Abeokuta.
As it turned out, despite the uprising, the fugitive slave dispute was far from over.
Sources and Further Reading
Davies, L. (2013). The Rise and Fall of Egba Independence: A Review. Ife Journal of History (IJH), 6(1), 1–20.
Iliffe, J. (1984). Persecution and Toleration in pre-colonial Africa: Nineteenth-century Yorubaland. Studies in Church History, 21, 357–378. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0424208400007725
McIntyre, W. D. (1963). Commander Glover and the Colony of Lagos, 1861–73. The Journal of African History, 4(1), 57–79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700003716
Omu, F. I. A. (1967). The ‘Iwe Irohin’, 1859–1867. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 4(1), 35–44.
Oroge, E. A. (1975). The Fugitive Slave Question in Anglo-Egba Relations 1861–1886. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 8(1), 61–80.