Agut Ntswuo (Tyap: A̱gut Ntswuo or Chenkwon or Samaru Atyap; Hausa: Samaru Kataf) is in the southern part of Kaduna State. The town is a junction town connecting Kagoro to the south, Zonkwa to the northwest and Zangon Kataf town to the northeast.

Understand

Chenkwon roundabout in Agut Ntswuo

Agut Ntswuo is one of the largest towns in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna State.

The main people here are ethnic Atyap people who speak the Tyap language. It is the second largest town in Atyap land.

The name Samaru Kataf came from the word, Samaru (said to be an acronym of one of the groundnut programs run by the Institute for Agricultural Research (I.A.R.) in Zaria between 1922-1945, with groundnut species like Samaru-38 developed in the process and the area where the farms were located in Zaria came to be called Samaru Zaria, while those in the Southern Zaria area - now Southern Kaduna became known as Samaru Kataf) and the word, Kataf, the Hausa term for the Atyap or Tyap-speaking people. The native Tyap name for the town is Agut Ntswuo, meaning "high ground/mound of Gardenia erubescens (a shrub)", due to the availability of this shrub in the area. The area around the Agut Ntswuo roundabout is, however, known as Chenkwon.

Geography

Agut Ntswuo is located in the Guinea Savannah.

Get in

Agut Ntswuo can be reached via land and air.

By plane

• Yakubu Gowon Airport JOS  ^IATA is 84 km (1 hr 30 min) east of Agut Ntswuo (via Jos-Kafanchan road) in Jos. It is the closest airport to Samaru Kataf. Arik Air runs a once a day domestic flight from Lagos to Jos.
• Kaduna International Airport KAD ^IATA is 22 km (14 mi) northwest of Kaduna city and 221 km (3 hr 15 min) northwest of Agut Ntswuo. It has frequent daily flights from Lagos (1 hr 15 min) on Aero Nigeria, Dana Airlines and Air Peace.
• Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport ABV ^IATA is 40 km southwest of Abuja and 256 km (3 hr 46 min) southwest of Agut Ntswuo. Several airlines offer international flights, notably, Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. Many visitors arrive on connecting flights from Lagos.

By car

• From Kaduna:

If you are arriving from Kaduna, you can board a vehicle going to Kafanchan and stop at the Agut Ntswuo roundabout.

• From Abuja:

One could take an Uber or airport cab from the airport to the Sani Abacha Mega Bus Terminal in Karu, Nasarawa State. One gets a vehicle from the garage to Kafanchan at a fare of between ₦2,500 and ₦3,000. If you came via Keffi-Barde-Jagindi road, you should stop at Samaru Kataf junction at Agban in Kagoro, to board a vehicle to Samaru Kataf. But if you came through the Keffi-Barde-Kwoi road to Kafanchan, stop at NEPA Roundabout road motor park. But if the car stops before getting there, take a motorbike at ₦100 to get there. From there, you board a car going to Samaru Kataf at a price of about ₦200-₦400.

You can get to Agut Ntswuo town through any of the following means like on motorbike, bicycle or foot, which would take longer.

Do

• 1 Ayet Atyap annual cultural festival, Agwatyap's palace ground, Atak Njei (11.1 km (15 minutes) due northeast via Kagoro-Agut Ntswuo (Samaru)-Pari road). Can attend the festival which happens at an announced date in December. (updated Jan 2023)

Buy

• 1 Agut Ntswuo (Samaru Kataf) Market (Q94M+8RJ, Kagoro Road, 802141, Agut Ntswuo (Samaru), Kaduna). (updated Jan 2023)

Eat

Finding pork and dog meat here is quite easy.

Learn

• 1 College of Agriculture, Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Matagama (Tagama) (Q97H+3JR, 802141, Agut Ntswuo (Samaru), Kaduna). (updated Jan 2023)

Connect

Cellular networks like MTN, Glo, 9mobile and Airtel are used here. The network strengths vary from one part of the town to the other.

Go next

From Samaru Kataf, one gets to other nearby places like:

• Kagoro - the home of the Afan National Festival
• Zangon Kataf - the historical town of the Atyap
• Zonkwa - the headquarters of the Zangon Kataf LGA