“Lagos is to be attacked by force,” was the order Beecroft received from London…The rift between Akitoye and Kosoko tore Eko badly. One was a man of the people, the other was also a man of the people, but a “friend” of the English people. The battle for “Eleko” aimed to tear the state apart; All the main players in the next battle are already in position.
The order was given. The battle for the soul of Lagos was to destroy everything he owned. Kosoko wanted the throne, but Akitoye wanted it more. The infamous HMS Bloodhound leaves England for Lagos with a singular purpose: to destroy with the necessary force!!!! The struggle was necessary because whoever controlled the state controlled its trade and much of its commercial influence in West Africa.
The first attack occurred on November 25, 1851, then on December 26, 1851.
On December 26, 1851, at 4:46 p.m. Lagos was attacked. His soul was ripped out and his entrails were scattered across the Atlantic. The fight was fierce. War General Oshodi Tapa and his men fought hard for their “adopted state.”
Oshodi and his men could not bear the British “Maxim Gun” and “Triple Loading Gun”. Boom!!! The shots tore the city apart. “Agindigbin” was born.
The battle lasts 5 days and, in the end, Lagos falls to the British. Italian consul and trader Giambatissa Scala, who visited Lagos after the invasion, found that the city was in ruins and its population had declined from 22,000 to 5,000, leaving mostly children and the elderly. King Akitoye concluded a treaty with the British and ascended the throne on January 1, 1852.
