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Kingdom divided · 1889–1900

Yorubaland divided

The Anglo-French agreement of 10 August 1889 drew a line north from the coast between British Lagos and French Porto-Novo.

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Overview

The Anglo-French agreement of 10 August 1889 drew a line north from the coast between British Lagos and French Porto-Novo. The western Yoruba kingdoms were left on the French side: Ketu, the oldest of them, already sacked by Dahomey in 1886, along with Sabe, Ohori, Ifonyin and Idaisa. The line split Ketu’s own lands, and Imeko and Idofa stayed on the British side. Further west, the Ana Yoruba around Atakpamé fell to German Togo. Within British territory the Yoruba were divided again in 1900. Ilorin, an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate, and the Okun Yoruba of the Kabba country went to Northern Nigeria, and the rest stayed with Lagos and Southern Nigeria. That is why Kwara and Kogi Yoruba belong to the North today.[2],[3],[1],[5],[4],[6]Medium confidence

Rings outside Nigeria are rough and clipped at the border. Inside Nigeria the pieces follow today’s LGAs.

Who took part

  • British forces· Colonial force
  • French forces· Colonial force
  • The Yoruba kingdoms· Defended

What happened

  1. 1886 · Ketu (Kétou)

    Ketu sacked by Dahomey

    Dahomey’s army sacks Ketu, burns its houses and shrines, executes its chiefs and carries its people to Abomey as slaves.[1]High confidence

  2. 10 August 1889 · Idofa

    The Lagos–Dahomey line

    Britain and France fix a rough frontier from the coast north to the 9th parallel. Further agreements in 1896 and 1898 refine it. Near Ketu it runs just south of the road from Ketu to Idofa, which leaves Itagbe on the French side.[2],[3]High confidence

  3. 1894 · Ketu (Kétou)

    France takes Dahomey

    French forces conquer Dahomey. The Ketu exiles return to a kingdom now ruled from Porto-Novo, cut off from its kin at Imeko.[1]Medium confidence

  4. 1900 · Ilorin

    North and South

    When the protectorates are proclaimed, Ilorin goes to Northern Nigeria, three years after the Royal Niger Company took it. The Okun Yoruba of Kabba go north as well.[4]Medium confidence

Sources

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

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Dahomey conquest of Ketou
  2. Wikipedia contributors. Benin–Nigeria border
  3. Wikipedia contributors. Anglo-French Convention of 1889
  4. Wikipedia contributors. Ilorin
  5. Wikipedia contributors. Yorubaland
  6. A. I. Asiwaju. (1976). Western Yorubaland under European Rule, 1889–1945: A Comparative Analysis of French and British Colonialism. Longman (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
  7. HistoNaija owner. (2026). Owner's notes on the reach of Igala, Benin, Oyo and Aro, the British conquests, and migrations (hintsPrompts/doc1.md)