Barely six months after recurrent boat mishaps in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, which claimed several lives, a boat conveying passengers at about 2:30 pm on Saturday capsized, leaving five persons dead in Egah River in Edati Local Government Area of Niger State.
The Eagle Online gathered that the boat left Gbanchi in Edati for Sofanla Village in the fast flowing Egah River.
Midway, it hit a rock, making it to spin before it eventually capsized.
Those that drowned in the mishap were Baba Mohammed, Abu Yaba, Audu Saidu, Jibrin Mohammed and Aisha Usman.
The Eagle Online learnt that villagers and fishermen in the area have been making frantic efforts to recover their bodies.
An eyewitness, Mallam Iliyasu Gambo, told The Eagle Online that the passengers would not have drowned if they wore life jackets.
According to Gambo: “the state government has told every passenger and operator of boats and ferry to always wear life jackets whenever they are travelling but these people did not wear, otherwise when the accident happened, they would have been afloat in the river and we would have been able to save their lives.
“Now they are dead because of disobeying the law.”
It would be recalled that the Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, went tough on canoe and ferry operators that fail to enforce the usage of life jackets.
Aliyu had directed the state Ministry of Transport to ensure full enforcement of the laws affecting water transportation from October 2013.
Aliyu charged operators on the provision of life jackets for their passengers before embarking on any trip.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Niger State, Richard Oguche, confirmed the accident.
Oguche said the police had dispatched its Marine personnel to the area to assist in the recovery of the remains of the drowned passengers.
As at the time of filing this report, he said none of the dead bodies had been recovered.
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