At least 30 people, mostly traders, are feared to have died after an overloaded boat capsized in Sokoto State on Sunday afternoon.
The vessel was taking dozens of passengers, along with goods including motorcycles, to the weekly Goronyo market when it overturned in Kojiyo village at about 1:30 p.m.
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Local officials confirmed the boat was overcrowded, though the exact number of people on board is unknown.
The chairman of the Goronyo Local Government, Zubairu Yari, said four people had been rescued alive, while the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) later put the number rescued at six as dozens remain missing.
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Rescue operations involving local divers and state emergency team members were frustrated by strong currents. According to Mr Yari, the heavy flow was due to water being released from the nearby Goronyo Dam to prevent an overflow.
The challenging conditions prompted the area’s federal lawmaker, Bashir Gorau, to appeal to the Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority.
“I urge the authorities to consider a temporary halt in the water discharge for a few hours,” he said. “This will greatly assist our brave rescue teams in recovering the remains of those who lost their lives.”
At the boat accident site, survivors and witnesses described a horrifying scene.
Magani Balarabe, a community leader who was on the boat and narrowly escaped, told the Vanguard newspaper that the vessel capsized midway through its journey.
Other witnesses described hearing cries for help across the river before the boat sank.
“This is indeed a dark day for our village,” one resident told local media. “The grief is too heavy for our community to bear.”
As search operations continued late into Sunday night, a mood of despair settled over Kojiyo village, with families gathering at the riverbank awaiting news.
Mr Yari attributed the tragedy to chronic overloading and poor road infrastructure, which forces many residents in riverine communities to rely on dangerous water transport.
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The council boss said he had directed that boat operators must maintain proper passenger manifests and cease overloading their vessels.
Aminu Bodinga, a special adviser to the state governor, said the government had deployed additional response teams.
“We strongly urge boat operators and passengers to ensure the safety of their passengers and avoid overloading,” he cautioned. “Lives are too precious to be lost to negligence.”
The tragedy is the latest in a long line of deadly boat accidents in Nigeria, where overcrowding, poor vessel maintenance and a lack of enforcement of safety regulations frequently lead to disaster on the country’s vast inland waterways.
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