No fewer than 150 passengers have been rescued while 16 others were confirmed dead after a boat capsized on Tuesday night in Niger State.
The corpses comprised two females and 14 males, following the earlier recovery of nine corpses made up of two females and seven men.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Authority, Abdullahi Baba Arah, made this known on Wednesday in a statement in which he gave an update on the recovered bodies from the 150 persons who were declared missing.
“Sixteen corpses have been recovered from the boat accident in Niger State. They are two females and 14 males,” he stated. The DG had earlier updated that nine corpses had been recovered made up of two females and seven males.
Earlier, the National Inland Waterways Authority had hinted that efforts were in top gear to rescue the remaining victims.
NIWA however described the boat accident as unfortunate amidst its increasing efforts to reduce such incidents.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the accident occurred when a wooden boat with about 300 passengers on board, travelling from Gbajibo Mudi to New Gbajibo in Niger State, suddenly capsized at about 8:30 pm.
“Preliminary findings show that the incident might be due to the overloading of the passenger boat. Rescue efforts are ongoing as of the last count; more than 100 passengers have been rescued from different parts of the channel,” the statement read in part.
The agency therefore warned boat operators to desist from flouting safety rules, including a ban on night travel and overloading of boats.
PUNCH Metro reports that no fewer than 150 passengers were feared missing following the boat accident in Mokwa Local Government Area.
The ill-fated boat, which was carrying over 300 passengers mostly women and children capsized during a Maulid celebration journey on Tuesday.
The passengers were said to be travelling from Mundi Community to Gbajibo Community for the Maulid festival when tragedy struck.
Confirming the incident, Baba-Arah said, “NSEMA received a report of a boat accident that occurred on the night of October 1, 2024, around 8:30 pm along the River Niger, upstream of Jebba Dam, at Gbajibo Community in Mokwa LGA.
“The boat, transporting about 300 passengers, mainly women and children from Mundi Community, was en route to Gbajibo for the Maulid celebration.
“NSEMA is coordinating search and rescue operations in partnership with the state Ministry of Transport, Mokwa Local Government Emergency Committee, local divers, and other community volunteers.
“Thanks to the swift response of the local volunteers, over 150 persons have been rescued so far.”
He assured the public that the search and rescue operation was ongoing, with further updates to be provided as more survivors were located.
