Niger State Boat: Dozens Die In Nigeria

At least 32 people were killed in the northern part of Niger in Nigeria after a boat sank into a river, a BBC official said.

The boat has been reported to be overloaded, carrying about 100 passengers, including women and children removed when it hits a flooded stump on a Niger river tree in the Borgou area on Tuesday morning.

They were on their way to a nearby village to give their respect to the family of someone who had recently died.

Abdulahi Baba Ara, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the state, told the BBC Hausa on Thursday that over 50 other people were rescued, eight still disappearing.

Search operations continue.

The Ara Ara said the government created a team of “water marshals” to stop boat operators from overloading their vessels and to ensure that passengers wear rescue vests.

“Maybe the water marshals were not on duty when this boat flew out,” he said, adding that the investigations had begun.

Local head of the area told the Reuters Agency that he was in place shortly after the incident.

“I was at the scene yesterday at about 12:00 to 16:00. The boat carried more than 100 people. We were able to restore 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also restored and removed,” says Reuters, quoting Sau inva Mohammed.

Boat accidents are quite common in Nigeria, often due to overload, poor regulation and insufficient safety precautions.

About 25 people disappeared Last month after a boat incident in the State of Soko.

Last December, 54 bodies were restored from the Niger River after a boat, which could have wore over 200 passengers.

The government has necessarily made travelers with water always carry rescue vests, but this is often not necessary.

In February, the Minister of Maritime and Blue Economics Adegboyga Oyetola established a “Special Committee to prevent accidents with boats in Nigeria” and in May the ministry announced that it would distribute 42,000 rescue veils in 12 river countries in the country.

Later, during the month, the national internal water body (NIWA) launches a campaign they called “no rescue jacket, without traveling” and “no night traveling” in the United States and Quara, where boat accidents occur regularly in the recent past.

The state of Niger is the largest in Nigeria on a terrestrial mass and people tend to travel a lot with water, as it is often the fastest and most cheapest means of circumvention.