A boat carrying about 50 passengers, majority of them said to be marketers from Eve in Kogi State to Katcha market in Niger State on Friday capsized on the River Niger resulting in the death of 22 people.
Penpushing results that the Director General Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba Arah, confirmed the incident explaining that the agency received a report of the mishap involving the victims
“NSEMA is directing and monitoring search and rescue operations in collaboration with Agaie local government emergency committee, local divers and other community volunteers. Twenty-two bodies have been recovered, and eight persons have been rescued alive,” he said.
Penpushing further reports that Arah added that 18 of the bodies recovered were from Kogi while four were from Akwanu in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State, adding that the search and rescue operation was still ongoing to locate more survivors.
The incident which occurred on Friday was less than two months after more than 100 persons died in another boat accident in Niger State, when the ill-fated wooden boat conveying about 300 passengers from Kwara State to an event in neighbouring Niger State capsized at Gbajibo in Mokwa local government area of Niger State.
Penpushing also reports that it is recalled that following that tragedy, President Tinubu directed the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to investigate the spate of boat accidents in Niger State and across the country and devise modalities to check the trend.
The President in same vein, ordered National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to expand the scope of its surveillance of inland waters to ensure people’s safety and prosecute boat operators violating the ban on night sailing.
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