Due to its economic and military power, Benin independently ran its trading activities in its region and was not subjected to the orders of any other kingdom or empire, not even Britain.

Well, after a series of successful trades, a British vice-consul, Henry Galway, visited Benin with the intention of annexing the kingdom through a treaty. He presented this so-called treaty of “commerce and friendship” to the Oba who were sceptical about it and Britain too. The Oba however signed the treaty agreeing to stop slavery and human sacrifice in Benin (which was a common practice then), but later Oba Ovoramwen realised that the treaty was just a tactic to annex Benin into the British Empire and thus he forbade his people to trade with the British and prevented them (British) from entering Benin.

This and a series of events caused the British merchants around the region to rage over the Oba Ovoramwen decision, as the actions taken seemed fatal to their trading business and also a violation of their signed peace treaty and subsequently convinced British authorities to overthrow the Oba and annex his kingdom.

In November 1896, an acting Consul General James Robert Philips went to Benin with his “friendly troops” which consisted of two commercial agents, two Niger Coast Protectorate officers, a medical officer and 250 African soldiers in the guise of porters who sent a letter to the Oba stating that he is coming on a “friendly visit” to discuss trade and peace (while waiting for permission from British authorities to invade Benin).

Unfortunately for Phillips, he arrived during the ongoing Igue festival – the Igue festival was originally celebrated as a ritual to renew the Oba’s magical powers. During the Igue ritual season, the Oba is forbidden to be in the presence of any non-indigenous persons. despite being warned by a small fraction of the Benin army about the ongoing festival and its consequences, Philips turned a deaf ear (you know how people always want to see what happens in the dark in horror films right?) and went ahead with his visit.

Unfortunately, he was killed along with his troops. Only two Britons survived the attack. This is what today is referred to as the start of the Benin Massacre of 1897.

Upon hearing this, the British government retaliated by sending well-armed troops (consisting mainly of Africans) to attack and destroy the Benin Empire.

The bombardment of Benin began on 9 February 1897. Although the Benin forces attempted to repel the attack (commando style), but their weapons which mainly consisted of machetes, spears and arrows were no match for the British sophisticated rifles and cannons. Every house in the kingdom was overtaken, the people were killed regardless of gender, age and status. And interestingly, the African part of the British troops did most of the fighting, while the British soldiers sat behind machine guns and cannons.

Shortly after ravaging the kingdom, Oba Ovoramwen was captured by British Consul General Ralph Moor and thrown before British law.

Oba Ovoramwen Nogbaisi was put on trial and found guilty. He was then deposed and, along with two of his wives, exiled to Calabar where he died in January 1914. After Benin was successfully laid to waste, British troops plundered the kingdom and transported its precious artefacts and works of art. The boots were auctioned off to cover the costs of the expedition.

However, most of these arts and artefacts still reside in foreign museums. This contributed to the fall of the great Benin Empire.

In any case, most people today do not know how this city today came to be. Benin city today is more of a commercial city now. So there’s that, the great Benin Empire, one of the most powerful and richest kingdoms in West Africa,
Everything comes to an end.