8 dead, others missing as boat carrying over 200 capsizes

A boat carrying over 200 passengers believed to be from Dambo-Ebuchi community in Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State capsized on Friday morning on River Niger. Eight bodies were recovered while other passengers are still missing.

The victims, said to be mostly market women from Kogi, were on their way to a popular market in Niger State when the incident occurred.

The locals in the area said the incident occurred in the early morning on River Niger when the boat carrying them developed a fault and sank, shortly after taking off from a local jetty in the community.

“The boat belonged to one Musa Dangana and was carrying over 200 passengers, mostly market women and farm labourers who were on their way  to the Katcha weekly market in Niger State,” said a local who wants to be identified as Abubakar.

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The head of the Media Department, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Suleman Makama, confirmed the incident on Friday, adding that eight bodies have been recovered so far, while search and rescue operations are said to have been intensified to locate the remaining passengers in the water.

The police public relations officer, Kogi State command, SP Williams Aya, did not respond to a text message sent him, neither did he answer calls at the time of filing this report.