Zolu Duma, also known as King Peter, was a Bassa-Dei ruler of the land situated on Bushrod Island.
Zolu Duma was raised by the Wuling, of the Bassa people, who had gained importance as merchants trading with the Europeans, including slaves.
[3] Accounts of the meeting stated that Zolu Duma initially agreed to the sale, but tried to back out once he learned that the settlement would endanger the slave trade.
Stockton then forced Zolu Duma to cede the land at gunpoint: Drawing another pistol and levelling at the head of King Peter, and directing him to sit silent until he heard what was to be said, [Stockton] proceeded to say, in the most solemn manner…he had determined that King Peter himself should be the first victim, and that unless he agreed to execute the treaty on the following day his fate was fixed.
[6] Zolu Duma appeared as a character in Kwame Kwei-Armah's "King Peter" and Dipika Guha's "Elizabeth," two short plays that premiered at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, in November 2017 as part of the Princeton & Slavery Project Symposium.