By the 1890s, the Niger Delta was one of West Africa’s most active commercial zones. River routes connected inland producers to coastal markets, and control of waterways meant influence, wealth, and political leverage. Trade was not separate from authority, it was the foundation of it.
For generations, coastal intermediaries, including Itsekiri and Nembe leaders, regulated access to interior goods and foreign merchants. Their power rested on brokerage networks, toll systems, and negotiated passage along creeks and rivers. When Britain expanded its protectorate system and chartered commercial authority in the region, that established balance began to shift.
British officials and chartered companies promoted direct access to inland markets and stronger administrative control. These changes placed pressure on river powers whose authority depended on controlling trade routes. Two events, one in 1894 and the other in January 1895, marked decisive turning points in that transformation.
Nana Olomu and the Fall of Ebrohimi, 1894
Nana Olomu was an Itsekiri merchant leader whose influence centered on the Benin River. His wealth and authority grew from his position within the delta’s trade system. As Britain consolidated protectorate power, tensions intensified between Nana and British officials over trade access and political authority.
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The Ebrohimi Expedition
Between July and October 1894, British forces carried out a punitive expedition against Nana’s stronghold at Ebrohimi. The campaign targeted the commercial and political base that had sustained his power. Ebrohimi, strategically positioned along river trade routes, was attacked and dismantled during the operation.
The expedition marked the collapse of Nana’s dominance in the region. After the campaign, he was removed from the Delta’s political center and later confined under British authority. His detention at Christiansborg Castle on the Gold Coast formed part of a broader imperial practice of exiling and legally restraining rulers who challenged expanding British control.
The destruction of Ebrohimi demonstrated how military force could be used to restructure trade relationships and remove influential river authorities whose systems conflicted with British objectives.
Nembe, the Royal Niger Company, and Rising Grievances
While Nana’s struggle unfolded under protectorate administration, Nembe’s confrontation developed within the sphere of the Royal Niger Company. Chartered in 1886, the company exercised governing authority in its territories and enforced commercial regulations that shaped who could trade and under what conditions.
Among the Nembe, often referred to historically as the Brass people, dissatisfaction grew over the company’s trading restrictions and dues. The company’s policies altered established commercial patterns and limited access to markets that had previously operated through regional networks.
Tensions escalated as negotiations failed to resolve disputes over trading rights and economic autonomy.
The Akassa Raid, 29 January 1895
On 29 January 1895, King Frederick William Koko of Nembe led a coordinated attack on the Royal Niger Company station at Akassa. The assault overwhelmed the installation and sent shockwaves through colonial administrative circles.
The raid represented organized resistance to the company’s commercial dominance. War canoes and fighters mobilized in significant numbers, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction within Nembe communities.
British forces responded with a retaliatory expedition that devastated Nembe settlements. The reprisal reasserted imperial authority and reinforced the company’s position in the short term, while also drawing official scrutiny to the circumstances that had produced the uprising.
Parliamentary discussions later addressed the outbreak at Brass, and correspondence involving Sir John Kirk referenced inquiry into the causes of the disturbance and the restoration of order within the protectorates.
Trade, Power, and Imperial Method
When examined together, the fall of Ebrohimi and the Akassa Raid reveal a common pattern.
Trade Routes as Political Authority
Control of commerce meant control of power. Nana’s influence depended on regulating Benin River trade. The Royal Niger Company’s influence rested on enforcing its chartered trading authority. Both conflicts emerged where commercial restructuring threatened established power.
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Force and Administrative Control
Military expeditions reshaped the political landscape. In Nana’s case, the expedition dismantled a trading stronghold and led to long term confinement. In Nembe, retaliation followed the Akassa assault and reaffirmed British authority in the region.
Administrative and legal mechanisms reinforced these outcomes, ensuring that military victories translated into sustained political change.
A Turning Point in Delta History
The years 1894 and 1895 marked a shift in the Niger Delta’s balance of power. River based commercial systems that had long structured authority were increasingly subordinated to imperial administration and chartered company rule.
The destruction of Ebrohimi and the events at Akassa signaled that trade policy and political control had become inseparable under expanding British power. Authority along the rivers would no longer be determined solely by local negotiation and commercial alliances, but by imperial force backed by administrative structure.
Author’s Note
The events at Ebrohimi and Akassa show how control of trade reshaped authority in the Niger Delta, and how river power met expanding imperial rule in moments of open confrontation. These clashes reveal that economic policy was never only about commerce, it was about who governed the waterways, who set the terms of exchange, and who would ultimately command the future of the region.
References
Cambridge University Press, Imperial Incarceration, Chapter 6, Removing Rulers in the Niger Delta, 1887 to 1897.
Hansard, UK Parliament, House of Commons, Outbreak at Brass, 30 April 1895.
Royal Historical Society Blog, Nigerian cultural heritage abroad, the case of an Itsekiri chief, 28 June 2021.
International Crisis Group, The Swamps of Insurgency, Nigeria’s Delta Unrest, Africa Report No 115.
