The Bight of Bonny (also known as the Bight of Biafra) is a bight

Bight (geography)

In geography, bight has two meanings. A bight can be simply a bend or curve in any geographical feature—usually a bend or curve in the line between land and water....

 off the West Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n coast, in the easternmost part (beyond the Bight of Benin

Bight of Benin

The Bight of Benin is a bight on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles from Cape St. Paul to the Nun outlet of the Niger River. To the east it is continued by the Bight of Bonny . The bight is part of the Gulf of Guinea...

 to the West) of the Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....

. It extends from the river delta

Niger Delta

The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil...

 of the Niger

Niger River

The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...

 in the north until it reaches Cape Lopez

Cape Lopez

Cape Lopez is a 55 km-long peninsula on the coast of west central Africa, in the country of Gabon. It separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South Atlantic Ocean, and is located at latitude -0.63° and longitude 8.7° . Lying in the delta of the Ogooué River, it shelters the seaport of Port-Gentil...

 in Gabon.

Countries located at the Bight of Bonny are Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...

 (including Annobon

Annobón

Annobón may refer to:* Annobón Province* Annobonese language* Annobon people...

), São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...

 and Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

.

History

On 30 June 1849, Britain established a colonial protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

 over the Bight of Biafra, under the authority of the British Consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

s of the Bight of Benin :

• May 1852 - 1853 Louis Fraser
• 1853 - April 1859 Benjamin Campbell
• April 1859 - 1860 George Brand
• 1860 - January 1861 Henry Hand
• January 1861 - May 1861 Henry Grant Foote
• May 1861 - 6 August 1861 William McCoskry (acting)

On 6 August 1861, the Bight of Biafra and the neighboring Bight of Benin protectorate (under its own British consuls) became a united British protectorate Bights of Biafra and Benin, again under British consuls:

• 1861 - December 1864 Richard Francis Burton
• December 1864 - 1873 Charles Livingstone
• 1873 - 1878 George Hartley
• 1878 - 13 September 1879 David Hopkins
• 13 September 1879 - 5 June 1885 Edward Hyde Hewett.

From 16 July 1884 this merged into the British protectorate over Brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

, Bonny

Kingdom of Bonny

The Kingdom of Bonny is a traditional state based on the town of Bonny in Rivers State, Nigeria. Founded in the 14th century AD, it became an important slave trading port, later trading palm oil products. During the 19th century the British became increasingly involved in the internal affairs of...

, Opobo

Opobo

Opobo is a traditional state in southern Nigeria. The state was founded in 1870.A part of the traditional state is now Ikot-Abasi in Akwa Ibom State.-History:...

, Aboh

Aboh

Aboh is a city in the Delta State of Nigeria. It is located on latitude 5°33'7"N and longitude 6°31'34"E, with an elevation of about 24m above sea level. It is the location of the headquarters of Ndokwa East Local Government Area in Delta State....

 and Old Calabar (excluding Lagos Colony

Lagos Colony

Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centered on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 and declared a colony on 5 March 1862....

), which was confirmed on 5 June 1885), and named Oil Rivers Protectorate, where in August 1891 effective consular administration was established, headed by a consul general (5 June 1885 the aforementoned former consul Edward Hyde Hewett became the first). This area would in different steps merge further via the 12 May 1893 Niger Coast Protectorate, 1 January 1900 renamed Protectorate of Southern Nigeria (into which on 16 February 1906 Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

 was incorporated), on 28 February 1906 made into the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, since 1 January 1914 part of British Nigeria Colony and Protectorate.

The bight was renamed within independent Nigeria in 1972, when after the Biafran War

Nigerian Civil War

The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967–15 January 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra...

, the Nigerian government wanted to remove the name of the secessionist Biafra

Biafra

Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...

. People who still consider themselves Biafrans live in various parts of the world today.