Thirteen corpses have so far been recovered from the tragic boat mishap that occurred in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday, with many more passengers still unaccounted for.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, confirmed the development to journalists in Minna on Sunday.
“So far, we have been able to recover 13 corpses while search for other passengers is still on,” he said.
“We are yet to determine the remote cause of the mishap but we will get the details later. Search for other corpses is still ongoing as villagers in the area are helping out in this regard,” he added.
According to earlier reports, the incident happened around 11:45 a.m. along Kwata village when a boat carrying traders and goods was en route to Zumba for the weekly market day.
The boat driver and a few passengers were rescued immediately after the incident. One of the rescued victims, who was admitted to General Hospital Kuta, has since been treated and discharged.
As of press time, local divers and other volunteers continue to search the waters in hopes of recovering more victims—either dead or alive.
While the exact cause of the accident remains unknown, past incidents, especially on market days, have often been linked to overloading and blatant disregard for safety regulations. Despite repeated efforts by the state government, the National Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to distribute life jackets to boat operators, there has been no consistent enforcement of their use.
