Sapele

Sapele is a city and Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria, a port in the Niger Delta region along the Ethiope River in the west of the state, about 68 km south of Benin City and linked to Warri and Benin by the A2 federal highway. The article gives a 2016 population of 161,686 and a 2006 census figure of 174,273 for the LGA. Sapele is the centre of the Nigerian timber industry, with sawmills and a large plywood and veneer factory, and it also makes plastics, chemicals and shoes. The Sapele Township Stadium, with a seating capacity of 10,000, was completed in 2013. The British set up a vice consulate there in 1892 and the town grew into a port and administrative centre. It stands on the lands of the Okpe people, part of the Urhobo nation, and the name is said to be an anglicised form of the Okpe word Uriapele, after a local deity.