
The River Benue looking south east from
Jimeta.
The 'Benue River' () is the major
tributary of the
Niger River. The
river is approximately 1,400 km long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions it flows through.
It rises in the
Adamawa Plateau of northern
Cameroon, from where it flows west, through the town of
Garoua, into
Nigeria south of the
Mandara mountains, and through
Jimeta,
Ibi and
Makurdi before meeting the Niger at
Lokoja.
The river's largest tributary is the
Mayo Kébbi, which connects it with the
Logone River (part of the
Lake Chad system) during floods. Other tributaries are
Taraba River and
Katsina-Ala River.