Jebba (jĕbˈä) [key], town, W Nigeria, the head of navigation on the Niger River. It is a port as well as a rail and road center. Paper is manufactured in the city. Jebba was conquered by the British in 1897 and served as the temporary capital of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1900 to 1902. The railroad reached Jebba in 1909, and in 1916 one of the few bridges across the Niger was built there. The Niger Dams project, begun in the 1980s, is designed to provide hydroelectric power to the area.