Nine bodies, consisting of two women and seven men, have been found after a devastating boat accident in Gbajibo, Niger State.
These individuals were part of a group of 300 passengers heading from Mundi Community to the Maulid celebration in Gbajibo when the boat overturned on Tuesday night.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency reported that 150 passengers were saved promptly, but 150 others are still missing. The boat, primarily transporting women and children, overturned while traveling.
In an announcement on Wednesday, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, the Director General of NSEMA, revealed that the search and rescue missions were still in progress as attempts persisted to retrieve additional victims from the river.
“Nine corpses have been recovered in the Gbajibo boat accident. Two females and seven men,” Baba-Arah stated in a brief update.
He elaborated that the event took place at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 1, 2024, on the River Niger, above the Jebba Dam in the Mokwa Local Government Area.
He added, “The boat was carrying nearly 300 passengers, mostly women and children, from Mundi Community for the Maulid celebration in Gbajibo.”
NSEMA, working together with the State Ministry of Transport, the Mokwa Local Government Emergency Committee, local divers, and volunteers from the community, is overseeing and overseeing the current search and rescue operations.
While families and the community are eager for updates, this unfortunate event underscores the risks of boats being overcrowded and emphasizes the immediate necessity for stricter safety precautions to avoid similar accidents in the future.
