The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a British force of 1,200 men under Sir Harry Rawson. It came in response to the ambush and slaughter of a 250 strong party led by British Acting Consul General James Phillips of the Niger Coast Protectorate.[1] Rawson's troops captured Benin City, bringing to an end slavery and human sacrifice in Benin, and indeed the Kingdom of Benin itself, which was eventually absorbed into colonial Nigeria.[1] The expedition freed slaves held by the Oba.[2]
Current day policy of the Nigerian government see all repatriated Benin Bronzes turned over to the ownership of Ewuare II, the current Oba of Benin and direct descendant of the ruler of Benin overthrown by the British in 1897. Many descendants of the freed slaves still remain in the Benin area today and thus returning the Benin Bronzes to the descendant of the ruler enriched by their slave trading and human sacrifice has caused much controversy nationally and internationally.
^ abObinyan, T. U. (September 1988). "The Annexation of Benin". Journal of Black Studies. 19 (1): 29–40. doi:10.1177/002193478801900103. JSTOR 2784423. S2CID 142726955.
^Igbafe, Philip A. "Slavery and Emancipation in Benin, 1897-1945". The Journal of African History, vol. 16, no. 3, 1975, pp. 409–29. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/180474. Accessed 4 July 2023.
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