The Benin Expedition of 1897 was the conquest of the Kingdom of Benin by British forces that led to the annexation of Benin into colonial Nigeria.
In late December 1896, a party of 250 people led by James Phillips of the Niger Coast Protectorate set off to Benin City with the stated purpose of discussing trade relations with their leader, Ovonramwen, but Phillips did not wait for his approval before crossing into Benin. The party was attacked by Benin forces on 4 January with almost everyone killed or captured. In response, the British invaded Benin on 9 February with 1,200 men under the command Sir Harry Rawson. Rawson's troops captured Benin City with minimal losses, while an unknown number of Benin people were killed. African porters who had been captured in the January attack and enslaved were freed. The expedition resulted in the looting of cultural artefacts, including the Benin Bronzes, the exile of Ovonramwen, and the annexation of Benin into the Niger Coast Protectorate.
The Benin Bronzes, which are currently mostly held by the British Museum, are subject to an ongoing movement to repatriate them and have become a symbol of an incomplete decolonisation of Africa.
Background
At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had retained its independence during the Scramble for Africa, and the Oba of Benin exercised a monopoly over trade in Benin's territories which the Royal Niger Company considered a threat. In 1892, Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul Captain Henry Lionel Galway (1859–1949) tried to negotiate a trade agreement with Oba Ovọnramwẹn Nọgbaisi (1888–1914) to allow for the free passage of goods through his territory and the development of the palm oil industry. Captain Gallwey (as his name was then spelled) pushed for British interests in the region, especially of the palm oil industry, by attempting to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Oba at the time. Later, Ralph Moor urged the Foreign Office to use whatever means to secure the signed treaty, up to and including force. Gallwey signed the treaty with the Oba and his chiefs which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence in the region. The Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty. After the British consul Richard Burton visited Benin in 1862 he described it a place of "gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death", a narrative which was publicized in Britain and increased pressure for the territory's incorporation into the British Empire. The treaty itself does not explicitly mention anything about the "bloody customs" that Burton had written about, and instead includes a vague clause about ensuring "the general progress of civilization". While the treaty granted free trade to British merchants operating in the Kingdom of Benin, the Oba persisted in requiring customs duties. Since Major (later Sir) Claude Maxwell Macdonald, the Consul General of the Oil River Protectorate authorities considered the treaty legal and binding, he deemed the Oba's requirements a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.
Some historians have suggested that humanitarian motivations were driving British foreign policy in the region.E.G. Hernon, A. Britain's Forgotten Wars, p.409 (2002) Others, such as Philip Igbafe, consider that the annexation of Benin was driven largely by economic designs. The treaty itself did not mention any goal that removed the "bloody customs" that Burton had written about.
In 1894, after the capture of Ebrohimi, the trading town of the chief Nana Olomu (the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District) by a combined Royal Navy and Niger Coast Protectorate force, the Kingdom of Benin increased the military presence on its own southern borders. These developments combined with the Colonial Office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin City scuttled an expedition the Protectorate had planned for early 1895. Even so, between September 1895 and mid-1896 three attempts were made by the Protectorate to enforce the Gallwey Treaty of 1892: firstly by Major P. Copland-Crawford, Vice-Consul of the Benin District; secondly by Ralph Frederick Locke, the Vice-Consul Assistant; and thirdly by Captain Arthur Maling, Commandant of the Niger Coast Protectorate Force detachment based in Sapele.
In March 1896, following price fixing and refusals by Itsekiri middle men to pay the required tributes, the Oba of Benin ordered a cessation of the supply of oil palm produce to them. The trade embargo brought trade in the Benin River region to a standstill, and the British merchants in the region appealed to the Protectorate's Consul-General to "open up" Benin territories and to send the Oba (whom they claimed was an obstruction to their trading activities) into exile. In October 1896 the Acting Consul-General, James Robert Phillips, visited the Benin River District and met with the agents and traders, who convinced him that "there is a future on the Benin River if Benin territories were opened".
January 1897
In November 1896, Phillips, the Vice Consul of a trading post on the African coast, planned to meet with the Oba in Benin City regarding trade relations between Benin and British officials. He formally asked his superiors in London for permission to visit Benin City, stating that the costs of such an embassy could be recouped through trade, including ivory. In late December 1896, before receiving a reply or approval, Phillips embarked on an expedition comprising about 250 people.James Robert Phillips, Acting Consul-General, Niger Coast Protectorate Maj. Copland Crawford, Vice-Consul of the Benin and Warri districts Alan Boisragon, Commandant of the Constabulary of the Niger Coast Protectorate Cap. Malling, Niger Coast Protectorate force officer Mr. Elliot, Medical Officer for Sapele and Benin districts Ralph Locke, District Commissioner of Warri Mr. Kenneth Campbell, District Commissioner at Sapele Mr Gordon, trader and member of the Africa Association Mr. Swainson, trader of Mr. Pinnock’s firm Mr Powis, agent for Millers Brothers palm oil company at Old Calabar Mr. Lyon, Assistant District Commissioner at Sapele (waited in Gwatto) Mr. Baddoo (of Accra, Gold Coast), Consul-General’s Chief Clerk and Photographer Mr. Jumbo, Consul-General’s orderly and civil policeman Mr. Towey, a local interpreter Mr. Herbert Clarke, a local interpreter Mr. Basilli, a local Benin guide Jim, a Kru manservant of Boisragon 180 Jakri porters to carry, food, trade goods, presents, cameras, and tents 60 Kru labourers
Phillips sent a message to the Oba stating that his mission was to discuss trade and peaceful relations and requesting admission to the territory. He also sent an envoy ahead bearing gifts. At the time, the Oba was celebrating the Igue festival, and he sent word that he did not wish to receive the British delegation during this period, indicating that he would send word later when he was ready to meet with Phillips and one Jakri chief. The Oba requested that the party wait about a month, but Phillips continued towards the capital despite warnings from Itsekiri intermediaries that Benin forces were assembling. The proposed visit produced a sharp division within the Oba's council, with the Oba ordering his chiefs not to attack the party and instructing them to allow the them to approach so that its intentions could be determined.
On 4 January 1897, as the party approached Benin City, the Oba continued trying to restrain the war party after the visitors' baggage had been inspected and found not to contain firearms. Phillips and his party were ultimately attacked by Benin forces near Ugbine village close to Gwatto. Most of the British officials and many African porters were killed. Two British members of Phillips' expedition were seriously wounded during the attack but survived: Captain Alan Maxwell Boisragon and Ralph Locke. The Edo attackers captured over 100 Itsekiri porters hired by the British, who were taken back to Benin.
Within the week, news of the incident reached London. As a result of this attack, the Foreign Office authorized military action, leading to what the British called a "punitive expedition". British officials presented the expedition as both a response to the killings and as an intervention against practices in the kingdom. Historian Philip Igbafe has noted that the humanitarian and punitive justifications given by Moor differed from the economic arguments for military action promoted by members of the Protectorate administration in the months and years before February 1897.
February 1897
On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson, commander of the Royal Navy forces at the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, was appointed by the Admiralty to lead a force to invade the Kingdom of Benin and capture the Benin Oba. The British named the operation the "Benin Punitive Expedition".
On 9 February 1897, the invasion of the Kingdom of Benin began. The British invasion force of about 1,200 Royal Marines, sailors and Niger Coast Protectorate Forces was organised into three columns: the 'Sapoba', 'Gwato' and 'Main' columns. Flotillas of warships (including HMS Philomel and Phoebe) and gunboats approached Benin City from the east and west. The 'Sapoba' and 'Main' columns reached Benin City after ten days of fighting. The 'Gwato' column (under Captain Gallwey) took the same route as that taken by the previous mission and came on the scene of the massacre, finding headless bodies of the victims.
The capital was captured on 18 February. British forces used rockets during the final stage of the advance before the remaining Benin defenders withdrew. Ovonramwen remained in the palace until British troops approached closely and a rocket landed within one of the palace courtyards.
Elspeth Huxley spent some time researching in Benin in 1954, and wrote:"Four Guineas" Elspeth Huxley, 1954" ... to hear an account of the Benin massacre of 1897 and its sequel from one who had taken part. It is a story that still has power to amaze and horrify, as well as to remind us that the British had motives for pushing into Africa other than the intention to exploit the natives and glorify themselves. Here, for instance, are some extracts from the diary of a surgeon who took part in the expedition.:-
'As we neared Benin City we passed several human sacrifices, live women slaves gagged and pegged on their backs to the ground, the abdominal wall being cut in the form of a cross, and the uninjured gut hanging out. These poor women were allowed to die like this in the sun. Men slaves, with their hands tied at the back and feet lashed together, also gagged, were lying about. As we neared the city, sacrificed human beings were lying in the path and bush—even in the king's compound the sight and stench of them was awful. Dead and mutilated bodies were everywhere – by God! May I never see such sights again! . . .'""Great Benin: Its Customs, Art and Horrors" by H. Ling Roth. The surgeon was Roth's brother.Herbert Walker, a soldier serving in the punitive expedition, believed that the human sacrifices he saw were an attempt by Benin City residents to appease the Gods as they tried to defend themselves from the expedition.
According to professor of African studies, Robin Law, the issue of human sacrifices is extremely sensitive and prone to bias. Law suggests that the reported extent of the practice in Benin was exaggerated by the British in order to establish the need for military intervention.Robin Law, "Human Sacrifice in Pre-Colonial West Africa", in: African Affairs 84 (334), 1985, pp. 53–87
Eight members of the punitive force were recorded as being killed in action during the Benin Expedition; the number of military and civilian casualties amongst the Benin people was not estimated but is thought to have been very high.
The Benin Expedition was described as such: