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British conquest · September 1887

Jaja of Opobo deported

Jaja of Opobo controlled the palm-oil trade of the Imo river and dealt directly with buyers in Britain, cutting out the coastal firms.

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Overview

Jaja of Opobo controlled the palm-oil trade of the Imo river and dealt directly with buyers in Britain, cutting out the coastal firms. In September 1887 the consul, Harry Johnston, invited him aboard a gunboat under a promise of safe conduct and seized him. Jaja was tried at Accra and exiled to St Vincent in the West Indies; allowed home in 1891, he died on the way.[1],[2],[3]High confidence

Who took part

What happened

  1. September 1887 · Opobo

    Seized under safe conduct

    Jaja goes aboard to meet the consul and is not allowed to leave.

  2. Late 1887 · Accra (Gold Coast)

    Tried and exiled

    A tribunal at Accra sentences him to exile in the West Indies. He died in 1891 on the voyage home.

Kingdoms involved

Sources

Every claim carries a confidence level: high (well attested), medium (one source or approximate) or disputed (sources disagree).

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Jaja of Opobo
  2. Wikipedia contributors. Opobo
  3. Dike, K. Onwuka. (1956). Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830–1885. Clarendon Press, Oxford (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)