Ughoton (or Gwato) is a town in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

. According to

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

oral tradition, the town was reportedly founded as 'Iguekaladerhan' (the land of Ekaladerhan) by Ekaladerhan, the son of

Owodo Owodo (, ) was the thirty-first and last ("king") of Igodomigodo, an early kingdom that later became part of the Benin Empire. His reign marked the end of the Ogiso era and initiated a transitional period that led to the establishment of the ...

, the last Benin

ogiso The were the earliest known ruling monarchy of the Edo kingdom of Igodomigodo, founded by Igodo, the first Ogiso. The monarchy began around 900 AD and lasted until the early 12th century when it was succeeded by the Oba monarchy. The Ogiso m ...

(monarch). At the time of Owodo's exile for misadministration, Ekaladerhan had fled Owodo, who wanted to sacrifice him to the gods. Reports of Ekaladerhan's location reached Owodo after he was spotted by hunters, and he sent soldiers to capture him. When they arrived, Ekaladerhan was gone, and the soldiers and hunters remained where they were, forming the town rather than returning to face Owodo's wrath. In the fifteenth century, Ughoton began to function as a port city for nearby

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

, first hosting the Portuguese, and later the English and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

traders. The famous explorer

Giovanni Belzoni Giovanni Battista Belzoni (; 5 November 1778 – 3 December 1823), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonn ...

, known for his success in searching for

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

antiquities and selling them to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, died here in 1823 of dysentery during an expedition. There is another Ughoton town in Okpe Local Government area of Delta State, which is made up of Urhobo-Okpe speaking people. Like the Urhobos this Ughoton people are migrants from Benin and share a unique language with other Okpes who together occupy two of the 25 local governments of Delta State. Ughoton borders the creeks with a rich flow of rivers and streams through the town. Its southern neighbours are the Itsekiris of Orere and Omadino. To the north are Jeddo and Ugbokodo, two Okpe villages.

Sources

History of the Edo folk
{{coord, 6, 10, N, 5, 22, E, region:NG_type:city, display=title Populated places in Edo State