In the first half of the twentieth century the town expanded as a result of activities of the Niger Company and later
UAC which acquired the trading interest of the
Niger Company and its assets at Burutu.[4] Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, the main port of the Niger Company was at
Akassa but when the water channel that opens to the sea became silted, the company moved operations Westward to Burutu close to Forcados. Burutu then served as a port terminal for
Niger Company and UAC, discharging goods from ships for onward water transport to river ports in Northern Nigeria and French territories through rivers
Niger and
Benue.[4]
^
abReport (Report). Lagos: Commission of Enquiry into the Disturbances Which Occurred at Burutu on 21 June 1947. 1948. p. 1.
OCLC34553671.
^"An Ocean-going Vessel Alongside the Main Wharves of the United Africa Company's Private Port at Burutu, in Nigeria." Financial Times, 1 June 1954, p. 8. The Financial Times Historical Archive
^Buxton, James. "Cargocats Revitalise Burutu." Financial Times, 18 Feb. 1976, p. 4. The Financial Times Historical Archive