Badagry, a popular town in Lagos State became host to European slave traders led by George Fre­emingo, a Portuguese slave mer­chant who came to Badagry around 1660s. By 1740 Badagry had be­come a thriving town for slave trade. It grew to an important com­mercial center flourishing on the export of slaves through the creeks and lagoon.

Each market day in Badagry, 300 slaves were sold. Around 17,000 African slaves were sold in Badagry annually. This trade . lasted 400 years. So that tells us that Badagry slave port happens to be the largest slave port in west Africa.

Point of No Return

The Point of No Return was the slave trade’s last stop on the African continent. Slaves walked along the beach, hands and feet chained, to the Atlantic Ocean, where they were put aboard ships and sent off to the Americas and elsewhere. Halfway down the road, you will see a sign with this ominous name.

About halfway into the walk, there is the Slave’s Spirit Attenuation Well. There, tired slaves could get a drink of water, which, according to Oke-tojinu, traditional chiefs believed it would cause memory loss among slaves so they would not recall their first days on the ships.

Effort to stop the obnoxious trade received a major boost when the treaty for the abolition of slave trade was signed in March 1852 be­tween England and Badagry chiefs. Some cannons of war were donat­ed to the chiefs to be placed at the coastal area to fight other European countries that were still coming to get slaves. However, the trade con­tinued illegally and the export of slaves steadily increased. The Bra­zilians became the major slave mer­chants during this period. Howev­er, in 1888 the last ship left Badagry to Brazil and this marked the end of the trade in Badagry, Brazil and around the world.

From the 1840s, following the suppression of slave trade Badagry declined significantly and would later become a major site of Chris­tian missionary work. Christiani­ty was first preached in Nigeria in Badagry in 1842 by Rev Thomas Birch Freeman, who equally cele­brated the first Christmas in Nigeria the following year. The site where Christianity was first preached then is now known as the Agiya Tree Monument. The 160 ft tall Agiya tree was felled by a heavy wind storm in 1959.