History of Lagos - Colonial-era

Colonial-era

Modern-day Lagos was founded by the Bini in the sixteenth century. It was later called Eko. The Portuguese explorer Ruy de Sequeira who visited the area in 1472, named the area around the city Lago de Curamo; the present name is Portuguese for "lakes". An alternate explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal - a maritime town which at the time was the main center of the Portuguese expeditions down the African coast and whose own name is derived from the Celtic word Lacobriga.

It was a major centre of the slave trade until 1851, when the United Kingdom, which had abolished slavery in 1807, captured the city. It was annexed as a British colony in 1861. The remainder of modern-day Nigeria was seized in 1886