The area now known as Nigeria was a major source region in the transatlantic slave trade. Several of the most important slave-trading zones in West Africa were in or connected to present-day Nigeria, especially the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Between the 1600s and 1800s, millions of enslaved Africans were transported through ports in these regions to the Americas. Major ports included Bonny, Badagry, Calabar, and Lagos. Many captives came from inland societies through warfare, raids, political conflicts, kidnappings, and trading networks.

Badagry Slave Route (Lagos area) in southwestern Nigeria became a major slave-trading center largely during the 18th and 19th centuries. Enslaved Africans were brought through routes connecting inland Yoruba regions to the coast. The “Slave Route” in Badagry refers to the path captives were forced to walk from holding areas and markets to the point of embarkation on the Atlantic. Badagry is also known for sites such as the “Point of No Return.”

Bonny Slave Port in southeastern Nigeria’s Niger Delta region was one of the largest and busiest slave-export ports in West Africa during the height of the trade, especially in the 18th century. It was connected to inland trading networks through the Niger Delta waterways. Many enslaved people shipped from Bonny came from Igbo-speaking areas and neighboring inland societies.

Badagry was more closely tied to Yoruba and neighboring trade systems, while Bonny was strongly linked to the Igbo hinterlands and Delta networks. Both were important, but Bonny became one of the largest export ports during the later peak period of the slave trade.

Ethnic groups such as the Igbo and Yoruba were heavily affected. Large numbers of enslaved people from this region were sent to Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America. The cultural influence of people from this region remains strong across Afro-Atlantic religions, music, language, cuisine, and traditions throughout the Americas. Historians generally consider the Nigeria-linked regions among the largest and most important departure points for the transatlantic slave trade, alongside Angola, the Congo region, and the Gold Coast (Ghana).