Local divers and officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday recovered 20 more bodies from water after a passenger boat conveying Mawlid celebrants capsised at Gbajibo, Mokwa LGA of Niger State.
The recovery brought the total number of deaths to 36, according to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency.
Daily Trust reported that a boat carrying 300 Mawlid celebrants capsised around 8pm on Tuesday after taking off from Mundi community, just a short distance to the victims’ destination.
The Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah said 16 bodies of the victims, comprising two female and 14 men had earlier been recovered on Wednesday and buried at Gbajibo Community.
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He said additional 20 bodies were recovered on Thursday by the local divers in collaboration with the officials of NSEMA and NEMA, bringing the total number of deaths to 36.
Arah said search and rescue operation was still ongoing in collaboration with officials of the State Emergency Management Agency and local divers to recover the remaining victims.
Relatives recount experiences
Some relatives of the victims of the ill-fated boat that capsized in Niger State have recounted their experiences.
Although the incident happened in Niger State, many of them were from Gbajibo community in Kwara State, several hours from Kaiama according to locals.
An indigene of the town, Hon Mahmud Salihu Gbajibo, while speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday night, described the incident as emotionally devastating.
According to him, “My father is the founder of the Mudi Gbajibo community in Kwara. I lost seven members of my family, two married nieces, three of my nephews and two younger brothers out of the eleven that came for a naming ceremony.
“The ceremony should have been held earlier but I delayed it because I was in Ilọrin then. Many of us could not control our emotions when we saw our dead loved ones. We have to bury them at the Niger side of the community to avoid chaos back home in Kwara. “After the incident, our women were running naked around the community. And now, nothing is happening in the community, no single shop is open and nobody is cooking. You can’t get anything to buy, it’s terrible. Our deputy chief Imam and his three children who went to represent our Imam perished,” he said.
Gbajibo who was part of those that received the entourage of the speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Engr Danladi Salihu, told our correspondent that the community needed to be assisted with motorcycles.
“Many of the victims would not have joined the boats if we had motorcycles because there are road paths that lead to the place. So, we are pleading for the provision of motorcycles.
He said 96 bodies had been recovered and 53 buried but this figure cannot be independently verified yet.
On his part, another relative of the victims, Haron Yohana who lost five family members said he bid them a safe trip but never knew that was the last.
“I lost three nieces, a father my younger brother in the incident. There are people we used to play and do things together. We just have to control our emotions and do the needful.
“The incident happened in the night and you would not know that anything happened there. It was another boat that passed through the spot that came to inform the community. Last week, three people drowned while crossing the same river. There is a need for provision and enforcement of life jackets and modern boat. This one is a wooden boat and old”, he submitted.
On his part, another member of the community who preferred anonymity told Daily Trust last night that the boart broken in two parts in the middle of the water because of overloading. Over a hundred people lost their breadwinners because majority of the victims were fathers and husbands.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has condoled with the government and people of Niger State over the boat accident.
The president, in a statement yesterday by Bayo Onanuga, his Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead.
President Tinubu also 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.
He ordered NIWA to expand the scope of its surveillance of inland waters to ensure our people’s safety and prosecute boat operators violating the ban on night sailing.
President Tinubu thanked emergency workers and local divers who were working to find the remaining people.
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