Seriki Williams Abass

Chief Seriki Williams Abass (born Ifaremilekun Fagbemi) was a renowned slave merchant in present-day southern Nigeria during the 19th century who became the "Paramount Ruler" of Badagry within the indirect rule structure established by the British.

[2] He was later sold to a certain Brazilian slave dealer called Williams who took Abass to Brazil as a domestic servant and taught him how to read and write in Dutch, English, Spanish and Portuguese languages.

[3] He returned to Nigeria on the condition of working with Mr. Williams as a slave trade business partner.

[4] In collaboration with his European partners and patrons, he built and maintained a 40-room Barracoon, small rooms in which captured slaves were held prior to being sold to European slave merchants and shipped away across the Atlantic, on the Lagoon's shore in Badagry.

Richard Lander and other European explorers wrote travelogues and exploratory accounts describing the barbaric operations of the barracoon, or "slave factories" in Badagry.