It is a dugout canoe discovered in 1987 by a Fulani cattle herdsman a few kilometers from the village of Dufuna in the Fune Local Government Area, not far from the Komadugu Gana River, in Yobe State, Nigeria.

[5]: 5 In 1989 and 1990, the University of Maiduguri carried out an initial exploration of the site to ascertain whether it was a canoe as well take radiocarbon dating samples of the wood.

The canoe was dug out over two weeks by fifty labourers and was found to be 8.4 meters in length, 50 centimeters wide and 5 cm thick.

[5]: 5–6  The canoe was found in a waterlogged state resting on a sandy bed with layers of clay between it and the surface protecting it in an oxygen-free environment.

[3] It may have been constructed by members of a population group who occupied an area extending from the western Sahara to the Nile of central Sudan and to northern Kenya.