A confluence of interests in Lagos from the now deposed Akitoye, who had allied himself with the anti-slavery cause in order to get British support, the Anglican missionaries in Badagry who were in contact with Akitoye, and Egba and European traders who want freer movement of goods, has ratcheted up British intervention in Lagos.

Akitoye's anti-slavery position appears born of self-interest, considering his connection with the well known slave trader Domingo Martinez, who had backed Akitoyes's unsuccessful attack on Lagos in 1846.

In November 1851 a British party met with Oba Kosoko, Akitoyes's successor, to present a proposal of British friendly relations along with giving up the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

The proposal is rejected by Kosoko "on the technical reason that Lagos was under the Oba of Benin and that it was only that Oba who could deal with foreign powers concerning the status of Lagos." (Onabamiro, Sanya. Glimpses Into Nigerian History: Historical Essays. Macmillan Nigeria, 1983. p. 43.)