Adubi War

{{Short description|Conflict in the British Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Use Nigerian English|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Adubi War

| partof =

| image = File:West Africa 1914-1918.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Map of West Africa in 1914

| date = June 13, 1918 – July 1918

| place = Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria

| result = British victory

| status =

| combatant1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} British Empire

| combatant2 = Egba rebels

| commander1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} Unknown

{{flagicon|Nigeria|colonial}} Unknown

| commander2 = Unknown

| strength1 = Unknown

| strength2 = 30,000

| casualties1 = 2 killed

| casualties2 = 598 killed
70 Egba chiefs arrested

| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Kamerun Campaign}}

}}

The Adubi War (known locally as Ogun Adubi or Egba Uprising) was a conflict in June and July 1918 in the British Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria ostensibly because of the imposition of colonial taxation.{{sfn|Oduntan|2010|p=218}} Direct taxes were introduced by the colonial government along with existing forced labour obligations and fees. On 7 June, the British arrested 70 Egba chiefs and issued an ultimatum that resisters should lay down their arms, pay the taxes and obey the local leadership.

The War

On 11 June, a party of soldiers, recently returned from East Africa, were brought in to help police in the area to keep the peace. On 13 June, Egba rebels pulled up railway lines at Agbesi and derailed a train. Other rebels demolished the train station at Wasinmi and murdered the British agent; the Oba Osile, David Sokunbi Karunwi II, the African leader of the north-eastern Egba district.{{sfn|Hogan|2013|p=304}} Hostilities between the 30,000 rebels and colonial troops continued for about three weeks at Otite, Tappona, Mokoloki and Lalako but by 10 July, the rebellion had been put down and the leaders were killed or arrested.{{sfn|Hogan|2013|p=304}}

Aftermath

About 600 people were killed, including the British agent and the Oba Osile, although this may have been due to a dispute over land and unconnected to the uprising.{{sfn|Oduntan|2010|pp=219, 231, 220}} The incident led to the abolition of Abeokutan independence in 1918 and the introduction of forced labour in the region; imposition of the direct taxes was postponed until 1925.{{sfn|Falola|Genova|2009|pp=110–111}}{{sfn|Hogan|2013|pp=299–313}} Military personnel who suppressed the revolt received the Africa General Service Medal.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Footnotes

{{Reflist|20em}}

References

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |series=Historical Dictionaries of Africa |volume=CXI |title=Historical Dictionary of Nigeria |publisher=Scarecrow Press |first1=Toyin |last1=Falola |first2=Ann |last2=Genova |year=2009 |editor-first=Jon |editor-last=Woronoff |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-8108-5615-8}}
  • {{cite book |title=Cross and Scalpel: Jean-Marie Coquard Among the Egba of Yorubaland |first=Edmund M. |last=Hogan |year=2013 |publisher=Heinemann Educational Books |location=Portsmouth, NH |isbn=978-978-081-287-4}}
  • {{cite thesis |last=Oduntan |first=Oluwatoyin B. |title=Elite Identity and Power: A Study of Social Change and Leadership among the Egba of Western Nigeria 1860–1950 |type=PhD |url=http://www.obafemio.com/uploads/5/1/4/2/5142021/egba_leadership.pdf |access-date=12 November 2017 |year=2010 |publisher=Dalhousie University |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |pages=218–232 |oclc=812072776}}

{{Refend}}

{{Uprisings against Entente Powers during WWI}}

{{World War I}}

{{British colonial campaigns}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:African resistance to colonialism

Category:Egba people

Category:Wars involving Nigeria

Category:Rebellions against the British Empire

Category:History of Abeokuta

Category:History of the Yoruba people

Category:1918 in Nigeria

Category:Nigeria in World War I

Category:June 1918

Category:July 1918

Category:August 1918

Category:Uprisings during World War I

Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa