Herzekiah Andrew Shanu (1858 – July 1905) was a photographer recognized for his participation in the campaign against abuses in the Congo Free State.
Early years.
He was a Yoruba man, originally from Lagos in what is now Nigeria. He initially became a school teacher. He was educated at the Church Missionary Society Grammar School, and later in the Training Institute for Teachers, at the end of which he graduated as a teacher. For a few years, he taught at a Lagos Primary School. However, in 1884, he entered the colonial service of the Congo Free State as a clerk, eventually rising to the rank of district sub-commissioner and serve as a French-English translator in the office of the governor-general in Boma. Establishing himself in Boma, then the capital, he opened a general store and photographic studio. In 1894, he traveled to Antwerp to attend the Exposition Internationale d'Anvers. Some of his photographs were published in "Le Congo illustré". In 1900, he demonstrated his loyalty to the Congo Free State by supporting the authorities during a mutiny by the Force Publique.
Activism.
In 1903, Shanu supplied Roger Casement with information concerning the abuse of West African workers in the Congo, who in turn referred him to E. D. Morel. Morel and Shanu exchanged messages for several years; Shanu forwarding, among other things, trial transcripts of trials against low-ranking Congo Free State officials which proved to be very revealing. While trying to acquire information from the police chief of Boma, Shanu was found out and as a consequence beleaguered by state officials. After it was discovered that Shanu had provided the Congo Reform Association with evidence of atrocities in Congo, government employees were ordered to boycott his businesses. He suffered bankruptcy and committed suicide in July 1905.