these slaves were usually sold to europeans by the aro confederacy, who kidnapped or bought slaves from igbo villages in the hinterland. igbo slaves may have not been victims of slave-raiding wars or expeditions, but perhaps debtors or igbo people who committed within their communities alleged crimes. with the goal for freedom, enslaved igbo people were known to the british colonists as being rebellious and having a high rate of suicide to escape slavery. there is evidence that traders sought igbo women. igbo women were paired with coromantee (akan) men to subdue the men because of the belief that the women were bound to their first-born sons’ birthplace.