At least 27 people were confirmed dead when a boat carrying passengers capsized in Niger State early in the week.
National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has decried the disregard for safety guidelines on water transportation by local residents.
The General Manager (Business Development) at NIWA, Olawale Adetola, stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief while reacting to the recent boat accident in Niger State that claimed 27 lives.
“Well, let me first express the authorities’ condolences to the people of Niger about this recent boat accident. We are tired of hearing all these fatalities coming through boat accidents.
“We are doing all we can as an authority to make sure that things like this don’t happen. We’ve done enlightenment and sensitisation of all boat operators to be safety conscious while using their boats on water.
“We have distributed life jackets to protect lives in case of this kind of accident. But by and large, people don’t adhere to the safety regulation that we have put in place,” Adetola said on Thursday.
He said that some of those rescued from the Niger boat accident survived because they wore life jackets, while other survivors clung to them.
“I believe what must have caused this accident is still under investigation, but from the look of things, I think the boat ran into a log or a hard object in the water.
“And, for the people that were rescued, it was due to the fact that they wore a life jacket, and for some people who didn’t wear one, we were told that they attached themselves to the people who wore the life jacket; that was why some of them were rescued,” he explained.
Adetola, who disclosed that the official death toll remained 27 as of Thursday morning, said that the agency would go ahead with the investigation and the rescue effort.
He further stated that NIWA was considering setting up community safety committees to strengthen enlightenment among local residents.
At least 27 people were confirmed dead in a boat accident that occurred at Gausawa, along the Malale–Kainji Lake route in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
Emergency officials rescue a victim of the boat mishap at Gausawa, along the Malale–Kainji Lake route in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened at about 11:49 a.m., while the NIWA rescue team arrived at the scene at about 1:33 p.m.
The wooden boat, which was reportedly carrying 138 passengers, capsized along the Shagunu–Dunga axis on Kainji Lake.
Rescue operations led by the agency revealed that 46 men, 58 women, and an undisclosed number of children were saved with the aid of life jackets.
Sadly, 27 bodies have so far been recovered — eight on Monday and 19 on Tuesday.
“The wooden boat sank but has since been removed, while rescue efforts are still ongoing,” the Manager of NIWA Niger-Kwara Area office, Akapo Adeboye, said.
In August, rescue workers said they were searching for more than 40 people after a boat accident in Sokoto.
In a statement, the National Emergency Management Agency said that the boat, which was carrying more than 50 passengers to a market, capsized on August 17.
“About 10 persons have been rescued, while more than 40 passengers remain missing,” NEMA added.
At least 16 farmers died in a similar accident in August 2024 when a wooden canoe carrying them across a river to their rice fields capsized in Sokoto state.
On July 29, six girls drowned after a boat taking them home from farm work capsized midstream in northwestern Jigawa State.
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