Ezza Military Patrol: Chiefs Seized as Hostages

During the Ezza military patrol of 1905, 'important Assaga chiefs' were called to negotiate with the commanding officer, Captain Margesson. On the day after their surrender, however, 'the five principal chiefs' were seized and handed over to political officer Mr Phillips as hostages. Around the same time, the people of Ahiara killed Dr Stewart, a medical officer attached to a patrol that went into the hinterland about 1905, reportedly because they did not know he was a human being, reflecting the profound mutual ignorance and fear that characterised early British–Ibo contact.