Lokoja

Overview

Lokoja, where the Niger meets the Benue, was never one people’s town and was never sacked or plundered. Nupe, Kupa, Kakanda and Oworo lived on and around Mount Patti; the Attah granted the land to the British in 1841; and as the jihad came down the Niger, Bassa-Nge and other refugees settled at the foot of the hill. Masaba of Nupe himself sent Baikie there in 1859, and his settlement grew into a town of freed slaves, Sierra Leone and Lagos emigrants and traders from every side, under its own Hausa rulers, the Maigari. “Lokoja,” Dike writes, “belonged to no particular tribe and was the meeting place of adventurers from all quarters.” When the British consul left in 1869 the townspeople chose their own manager and asked Masaba for protection, without becoming his. From 1886 it was the Royal Niger Company’s headquarters, and in 1900 the first capital of Northern Nigeria.^{[5],[7],[3],[1],[6],[9]}Medium confidence

Lokoja stands on its own on the map from the Attah’s grant of 1841, when it left his direct rule, until it became the capital of Northern Nigeria.

Through the centuries

1. 1841

   Land at the confluence

   The Attah grants the land around Adda Kuddu and Mount Patti to the British for a model farm and a fort. The farm is set up at Stirling Hill and soon abandoned. On and around Patti live Nupe, Kupa, Kakanda and Oworo; Igala fishermen work the river; and refugees from the raids up the Niger begin to arrive.^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}Medium confidence

   Capital: Stirling Hill (Lokoja)

   Drawn over all of today’s Lokoja LGA, as the owner directs (2026-10-11); the town itself was only the hills and plain around Patti.

2. 1857–1859

   Baikie’s town

   Baikie, who came in 1854 and again in 1857, is sent to Lokoja by Masaba of Nupe, “where he said the British could stay”. He settles emigrants from Sierra Leone and Lagos and slaves he has redeemed, and persuades the hill people and their Maigari, Muhammadu Maikarfi, to come down to the plain. Bassa-Nge refugees live at the foot of Patti. A British consul sits here.^[5],[3],[6]Medium confidence

   Capital: Lokoja

3. 1869

   A town of its own

   Britain withdraws its consul, and the townspeople, “cast upon their own resources”, elect a manager of the settlement. They ask Masaba, “whose dominions surround Lokoja”, to protect them and to recognise their manager; he sends a sub-manager to report on any wrongs by his war men. Lokoja stays the meeting place of many peoples, never Bida’s town: Kyadya exiles from Bida’s own wars find refuge here in the 1880s.^[7],[5],[8]Medium confidence

   Capital: Lokoja

4. 1886

   The Company’s headquarters

   The Royal Niger Company makes Lokoja its military headquarters. In January 1897 its troops march from here against Bida.^[3],[8]Medium confidence

   Capital: Lokoja

5. 1900

   Capital of Northern Nigeria

   On 1 January 1900 the Company’s lands pass to the Crown, and Lokoja becomes the first capital of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.^[3]High confidence

   Capital: Lokoja

Today

Maigari of Lokoja, Lokoja

Lokoja is the capital of Kogi State and still a town of many peoples. Its traditional ruler is the Maigari of Lokoja.^[3]Medium confidence

Sources

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

1. Allen, William; Thomson, T. R. H. (1848). A Narrative of the Expedition sent by Her Majesty’s Government to the River Niger in 1841, vol. I, chapters XII (the conference with the Attàh), XIV (Adda Kuddu) and XV (conquests of the Filatahs). Richard Bentley, London (transcribed by P. Davis)
2. Trotter, H. D. (1843). Report of Proceedings from Captain Trotter, First Commissioner, to Lord Stanley (Parliamentary Papers No. 52, 1843): the land bought “on the right bank of the river near Adda-Kuddu, and embracing Baraga or Beaufort Island”. House of Commons (transcribed by P. Davis)
3. Wikipedia contributors. Lokoja
4. HistoNaija owner. (2026). Local knowledge from the HistoNaija owner: indigenous Igala fishermen lived at Lokoja when the Attah leased the land to the British; no one in Lokoja should be described as settled
5. Dike, K. Onwuka. (1957). Origins of the Niger Mission 1841–1891 (Lokoja “belonged to no particular tribe and was the meeting place of adventurers from all quarters”). CMS Niger Mission, Ibadan (Project Canterbury transcription)
6. Bassa Nge Community of North America. Our History (the Bassa-Nge flight from Masaba’s raids of the early 1840s, Eku Anupe; Masaba camps where Lokoja now stands) (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
7. Crowther, Samuel Adjai. (1872). Bishop Crowther’s Report of the Overland Journey from Lokoja to Bida, on the River Niger, and thence to Lagos (introduction: Lokoja’s community asks Masaba, “whose dominions surround Lokoja”, for protection after 1869). Church Missionary Society (Project Canterbury transcription)
8. Idrees, Aliyu A. (1989). Collaboration and the British Conquest of Bida in 1897: The Role and Achievement of the Indigenous Interest Groups. African Study Monographs 10(2): 69–82
9. Direction from the HistoNaija owner: the Attah’s northern reach (Abaji, Toto, Umaisha and the rest) held until the jihad-era campaigns