BOAT ACCIDENT CLAIMS 47 LIVES IN SOKOTO
By:Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
At least 47 bodies have been recovered after a boat capsized in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The victims were reportedly crossing from the Goronyo River crossing point to a nearby village when the canoe overturned, throwing passengers into the water.
Head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Sokoto Operations, Alhaji Tukur Abubakar, confirmed the incident and said search and rescue efforts were ongoing for other passengers still missing.
NEMA, the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), security agencies, local divers and the Nigerian Red Cross Society are involved in the operation.
Officials have repeatedly identified overloading, unsafe canoes, lack of life jackets and poor enforcement of waterway safety regulations as major causes of boat accidents in the region.
The latest tragedy adds to a series of fatal boat accidents recorded in Sokoto and neighbouring Kebbi State in recent years, raising renewed concerns over safety on inland waterways.