7-694: Forçados is a small town in Burutu LGA of Delta State , Nigeria . It is most noted for the Forcados River , which is a major navigable channel of the Niger Delta . The river starts about 20 miles (32 km) downstream from Aboh and flows through zones of freshwater swamps, swamps, and coastal sand ridges before completing its 198-kilometre (123 mi) course to the Bight of Benin . History reveals that Forçados and neighbouring Burutu played
14-585: A link between river transport and the sea when the Royal Niger Company established a base there in the late 19th century. People living in this region are mostly of the Izon ethnicity. Burutu Local Governments comprises the following towns and villages: In the first half of the twentieth century the town expanded as a result of activities of the Niger Company and later UAC which acquired
21-614: A significant role in slave trade era. The Portuguese built a slave dungeon in 1475, where slaves were kept before being exported to Europe and America. The Forçados slave wharf is one of the longest in Africa; it was built by the Portuguese in 1472, and renovated by Royal Niger Company in 1886 when they took over the town. The Royal Niger Company built a prison in 1887 and it was the first in West Africa. The famous Forçados sea wall
28-527: A total human population of approximately 2000 inhabitants, predominantly Ijaws , with fishing as their main source of livelihood. Burutu Burutu is a Local Government Area in Delta State , Nigeria . It lies on the coast of the Niger Delta on two sides of the Forcados River , a channel of the River Niger , 30 kilometres (20 miles) upstream from the Bight of Benin . It has served as
35-593: The structures discussed are just a few of those built by the Portuguese and the British, who settled in Forçados and Burutu to do business. The structures discussed above and many more are still visible, but are fast decaying due to lack of maintenance by the government. Forçados was the administrative headquarters that hosted the Portuguese, and played a vital role in the colonial era in Nigeria. The community today has
42-670: The trading interest of the Niger Company and its assets at Burutu. Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, the main port of the Niger Company was at Akassa but when the water channel that opens to the sea became silted, the company moved operations Westward to Burutu close to Forcados. Burutu then served as a port terminal for Niger Company and UAC, discharging goods from ships for onward water transport to river ports in Northern Nigeria and French territories through rivers Niger and Benue . The port of Burutu
49-601: Was built in 1616, also by the Portuguese, to protect their houses from flooding. The Portuguese also built a windmill in 1472. The abandoned Burutu sea port was built by the Royal Niger Company in 1887; it was the first modern sea port in Africa. The Forçados Infectious Diseases General Hospital, built in 1890, was the first in Nigeria and West Africa. Newly trained medical personnel from abroad began their first medical work in Forçados. The hospital still functions partially, renovated by Delta State government. All
#675324