Etinosa12345:

The British came through ughoton which was close to the capital... It was only a matter of time before they reached the capital at a short notice to the Oba
Also, for the Benin to have routed an entire column explains that the fighting was a bitter one..... It was just lack of unpreparedness on the part of Benin... The popular exploits of Asoro is a clear sign that Benin were no walkover even tho they lost the war

It was not possible to plan a guerrilla warfare in such a few days of notice...
There was no other option than to face them openly...

Same as Benin... Benin was inferior to the British.. and used local guns as opposed to the superior firepower of the British... If all things were equal, the British wouldn't have won and they won't even have any Empire in Africa in general... The World wars clearly showed it

No war is equal.

I agree with your points, I just wanted to point out that Benin wasn't as powerful as many of the other African kingdoms, or as competent.