DECLARED MONUMENTS IN NIGERIA

An ancient City of Surame in Sokoto:

Muhammadu Kanta Sarkin Kebbi whose empire is said to have included Yauri, Nupe, Kano, Katsina, Gobir, Zaria and Agedes, founded Surame in the early 16th Century.

The town was in existence for 184 years 4 months and 20 days and was abandoned about 1700 when the capital was moved to Birnin Kebbi. It lies North of Silame which is 25 miles West of Sokoto on the opposite side of the Sokoto river, as it is within a Forestry Reserve it has been protected from the ravages of agriculture and traces of house walls and hut foundations are clearly visible.

An ancient Baobab tree mark the site of Kanta's house and wall to which magic properties are attributed. The three miles south of Silame is Gungu also founded by Kanta. It is now the site of a modern village and the whole of the area has been cultivated for a considerable period so nothing remains except a considerable bank marking the line of the defensive walls. C.K. Meek describes the walls of Surame: "A Surame, in Sokoto province, the town encircles by seven stone walls built, it is said by Kanta, founder of Kindam of Kebbi which are still wonderfully preserved after the lapse of four hundred years. Their walls are ten miles in circumference and are built of stone, the interstices being filled up with laterite gravel and red mud which had evidently been brought from a distance. Mr. Daniel reports that the walls show regular course of masonry to a height of 20feet. At one point in the wall these is a gab which had been filled in with solid masonry 30ft. High and is still in a remarkable state of preservation. It is said that persons doomed to death were flung down from this wall and probably strangled with a rope fixed round their necks. The Surame walls may be the work of the same people who built the famous walls of Lobi in french territory and of those who built the bridges of the Ba-Ron district". (C.K. Meek: "The Northern Tribes in Nigeria, London, Vol. 1, p-p.57, 1925).

Declaration:
Declared Ancient Monument on 15th August, 1964. Although abandoned about 260 years ago. The walls still stand to a height of 15ft. To 20ft. It includes the line of the main roads of the area lying within a distance of 300ft on the Crest of the walls.