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Owerri
Capital city of Imo State, Nigeria

Owerri

Owerri is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland.

Plan a trip to Owerri→From Port Harcourt

It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas namely Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West. It has an estimated population of 1,401,873 as of 2016 and is approximately 551.00 square kilometres (212.743 sq mi) in area combining the 3 local government making up Owerri. Owerri is bordered by the Otamiri River to the east and the Nworie River to the south. The Owerri Slogan is Heartland. It is also called the Las Vegas of Africa, due to the night life of the city and the numerous hotels, casino and leisure parks all over the city.

Get in

Getting to Owerri

The town is at the intersection of major roads from Aba in Abia State, Onitsha in Anambra State, Port Harcourt in Rivers state, and Umuahia in Abia State. Sam Mbakwe Airport (Imo Airport), Umuohiagu (from Owerre). Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW IATA) has passenger flights from Abuja (1 hr, from ₦114,000) and Lagos (1 hr, from ₦114,000) on Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines (as of June 2021).

  1. 01
    Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport
  2. 02
    Imo Transport Corporation
  3. 03
    GUO Transport

    Egbu Rd (opposite relief market),.

  4. 04
    ABC Transport

    Egbu Rd (opposite government technical college Owerri),.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Owerri Zoo

    Sits on 10 hectares of reserved forest and houses a large variety of animals including lions, pythons, gorillas, crocodiles, ostriches and monkeys.

  2. 02
    Freedom Square
  3. 03
    Imo State Council for Arts and Centre

    Mbari Street Ikenegbu Layout Ikenegbu Layout.

  4. 04
    National Museum Owerri

    Contains artefacts and history of the Igbo people.

  5. 05
    Oguta Lake

    A beautiful serene environment, though it was not always peaceful and was the last stand of the Nigerian Civil War called the Biafran War, where the Biafrans surrendered.

  6. 06
    Chief Uwunna Recreational Park

    A cool recreation park inside the Imo University a good place to relax from a busy day and open to all.

Do

Things to do

Oru Owerri which is also known as Oru Eze (the kings festival) is a festival and cultural carnival celebrated annually Owerri people in remembrance of the creation of Owere (Owerri) by Ekwem Oha. It is celebrated by five traditional villages in Owerri Municipal.

Eat

Where to eat

There are numerous restaurants and fast foods where you can eat local and delicious cuisines. Most of them offer dine-in, takeaway and delivery. Jevinik Restaurant, 19 Umez Eronini Street, Ikenegbu Layout, +234 803 675-4733, info@jevinik.com.ng. 9AM–10:30PM. Jevinik Restaurant provides its customers with a wide range of food delicacies on soup, stew, small chops, African and intercontinental cuisines.

How locals move

Getting around Owerri the local way

  • Get inTravellers coming from outside the state, the nearest flight hub is the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport in Owerri, from where you can charter a taxi straight to Nekede.

From Wikivoyage: Nekede, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-08.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.