Over 192 women and farm workers are unaccounted for after a boat they were travelling capsized at the Dambo-Ebuchi section of the River Niger.
According to Suleman Makama who is the head media department of the National Inland Waterways Authority more than 200 persons mostly market women and farm workers were on the boat when it flipped over. They were travelling to the Katcha in Niger State for the weekly market. Eight corpses have been recovered according to witness report.
“It’s true that there was a boat mishap on Thursday involving quite a number of women heading to the market in Niger State. We are still investigating to determine the number of people involved and the cause of the accident,” Makama said,
This is the third major boat accident along the River Niger this year. National Inland Waterways Authority Managing Director, Mr. Bola Oyebanji, only on Wednesday told a House of Representative committee hearing that non-compliance with safety regulations, human errors and drug use were the main cause of boat mishaps in the country.
Searching for survivors