At the near unfathomable depth of 100feet,the river Ethiope,a freshwater body holds the undisputed record as the deepest river in West Africa.For centuries,this river has flowed out drop after mysterious drop from the bowels of an iroko tree in Umuaja village near Umutu in Delta state of Nigeria where the UNOKU deity is worshipped just by the tree.Certainly a place to be seen to be believed, this jaw dropping source of the river Ethiope.This majestic body of water,though sporadically bedeviled by the spillages caused by saboteurs of petroleum pipelines still retains a considerable part of it's splendour.
Lying within latitude 5.9000 and longitude 5.7000 degrees in the Africa Lagos timezone,river Ethiope traverses the historical university town of Abraka,the kingdom of Jesse,the timber processing town of Sapele where it is bridged at Okirigwre,the polytechnic town of Oghara,and the ancient administrative port city settlement of Koko.From there,it flows for some distance before joining the Atlantic ocean.
A handful of world class hotels dot the shores of the Ethiope like the Peemos Place Sapele,Abraka river hotels,and Abraka,Amena Resorts,Oghara.Other industries on the bank of the Ethiope are the African Timber and Plywood factory ATP,Lonestar drilling company,and Rainoil,a major player in the oil and gas industry.Water transportation also thrives in the Ethiope in addition to some fishing and dredging done with locally constructed dredgers .The purpose of such dredging activities is solely to excavate the white sharp sand of the river Ethiope,for sale to the construction industry .
