Map - Sapele, Delta (Sapele)

Sapele is a town and one of the Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria.

Sapele səpā´lē city (1991 est. pop. 123,000), S Nigeria, a port in the Niger delta. The center of the Nigerian timber industry, Sapele has sawmills and a large plywood and veneer factory; rubber is processed there, and plastics, chemicals, and shoes are manufactured. After the British established a vice consulate in the city in 1892, Sapele grew in importance as a port; in 1894 it came under British rule and served as a local administrative center.

The Okpe people believes the origin of the name is to be an anglicized derivation of the Okpe word 'Uriapele', named after a local deity, the shrine of which can still be found in the centre of the city.

The British colonial officials changed the name of the then hamlet to Sapele.

Sapele City is indigenous to the Okpe people, a major group of the Urhobo Nation.

By the mid-19th century, Sapele was established as a trading centre, occasionally visited by Europeans. In 1891, the British government established a vice-consulate at Sapele. The population grew to 33,638 by 1952, because of the cosmopolitan nature of the town and its employment opportunities. People from many Nigerian ethnic groups have settled there, alongside the many Okpe people, these also include the Itsekiris and ijaws, as well as the Urhobo people from surrounding towns and villages.

In August 1891, the British Government established a Consular Administration over the Oil Rivers Protectorate, later, the Niger Coast Protectorate. The administration, consisting of six consular river districts, was under Major (later Sir) Claude M. Macdonald. He was the Commissioner and Consul-General and his headquarters was at Calabar. Two of the river districts were located at Benin River and Forcados River. Shortly after its establishment, the Forcados River District was removed to Warri trading station which is now the Warri Township. It is with the Benin River District that we are concerned here. The first Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul in charge of the Benin River District was Captain H. L. Gallwey. The District Office was at the mouth of Benin River, 5 mi from the sea coast. The jurisdiction of the Vice-Consul covered the whole of the Benin country and included the south-western part of the Itsekiri country and the north-western part of the Urhobo country particularly along the Ethiope River.

About two months after the establishment of the Protectorate Government, Gallwey was given an important duty to carry out. One of the first assignments to Gallwey was the survey in October 1891, of the Urhobo Oil markets along the Ethiope River.

On 27 October 1891 accompanied by Mr. S. Munro of the African Association, Gallwey proceeded on the voyage for the survey in a launch hired from Messrs. Bey and Zimmer, a German trading firm at Benin River. The following part of his report is pertinent:

"General Account of the Visit in Diary Form