Lieutenant Tryon seizes Spanish slave ships at Bonny; Regent Alali imprisons British officers

In 1836 Lieutenant Tryon of the Royal Navy seized Spanish slave vessels in Bonny River, acting under the slave-trade suppression mandate. In response Regent Alali (acting ruler of Bonny) imprisoned several British naval officers, precipitating a serious diplomatic crisis. The incident illustrated the escalating tension between British anti-slave-trade operations and the authority of Delta rulers who still profited from the traffic.