Igbo people in the Atlantic slave trade

An estimated 14.6% of all enslaved people were taken from the Bight of Biafra, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean that extends from the Nun outlet of the Niger River (Nigeria) to Limbe (Cameroon) to Cape Lopez (Gabon) [1] between 1650 and 1900.

[citation needed] The journey for enslaved Igbo often began in the ancient Cave Temple that was located in Arochukwu Kingdom.

The victim would be commanded to walk further into the cave so that the spirits could "devour" them, but, in reality, they were taken to an opening on the other side and loaded directly onto a waiting boat.

Olaudah Equiano, a famous Igbo author, abolitionist and formerly enslaved person, was dropped off there after being kidnapped from his hometown near the Bight of Biafra.

The links between Barbados and the Bight of Biafra had begun in the mid-seventeenth century, with half of the African captives arriving on the island originating from there.

[16] Bonny and Calabar emerged as major embarkation points of enslaved West Africans destined for Jamaica's slave markets in the 18th century.

[17] Dominated by Bristol and Liverpool slave ships, these ports were used primarily for the supply of enslaved people to British colonies in the Americas.

There was a general rise in the number of enslaved people arriving to the Americas, particularly British colonies, from the Bight of Biafra in the 18th century; the heaviest of these forced migrations occurred between 1790 and 1807.