§ SIR CHARLES DILKEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received from the Governor of Lagos the Report called for last November as to the re-enslavement of escaped Ijesha slaves by order of the British Resident at Ibadan and the Governor of Lagos; and what steps are now being taken to enforce the promised abolition of the legal status of slavery in the Lagos Protectorate?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESI have received the Report. Three slaves who had escaped from Ibadan to Ijesha, in both of which places the legal status of domestic slavery exists, were restored to their owner by order of the British Resident. Instructions will be given to British officers in the Protectorate not to assist in the recapture of slaves. No promise has been made to abolish domestic slavery in these territories, and it would be impracticable to do so immediately, even if treaty engagements allowed it; but the subject will have my careful attention, and in the meantime the system appears to be gradually dying out, and every possible encouragement will be given to the substitution of voluntary service.