At least 30 people are believed to have drowned when a boat carrying more than 50 passengers capsized in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State on Monday.
The Chairman of Yauri LGA, Bala Yauri, confirmed the distressing event to newsmen over the phone. He expressed that this incident has plunged the residents of the local government into profound grief.
Mr. Yauri mentioned that local divers are currently working tirelessly to find the bodies of the passengers who tragically drowned in the river.
“From the information I gathered, more than fifty persons were involved in the accident while some of them escaped but as of now that I am talking to you, over thirty of them as still trapped in the river.”
“We have mobilized the local divers to try and locate bodies of the victims for proper evacuation and possibly befitting burials in accordance with Islamic rights. ”
“The boat as I heard carried passengers who are mostly traders from either Niger State or Kebbi State alongside foodstuffs for sell before the unfortunate incident”
Another individual who witnessed the incident, Alhaji Sani Yauri, affirmed that the accident was brought about by a strong gust of wind, leading to the driver losing control of the boat.
“I was there when the incident happened, it was as a result of heavy wind which resulted in the driver of the boat losing control and it capsized immediately “
Meanwhile, attempts to reach out to Nafiu Abubakar, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Police Force in Kebbi State, were not successful as he neither responded to calls nor responded to text messages sent to him at the time of filling this report.