Protest against Forced Labour in Niger Province of Nigeria, 1907 – 1912: The Role of Reverend J. D. Aitken and Bishop Tugwell

Abstract

In the period between 1900 and 1960, Nigeria was under British colonial rule.  The policy of forced labour was introduced in order to meet the colonial demands for labour on the railway construction sites.  In Niger Province, thousands of villagers were recruited as forced labourers to work on the railway construction sites under severe exploitative and inhuman conditions.  This forced some Christian missionaries such as Reverend J. D. Aitken and Bishop Tugwell to cry out against this extremely tortuous and oppressive treatment of forced labourers.  In spite of denials by colonial officials, information from both colonial sources and informants confirmed the allegations of widespread exploitation of forced labourers on the railway construction sites in the Niger Province of Nigeria.