20 more bodies recovered as victims’ family members narrate experiences

Twenty more bodies of passengers of a boat that capsised on Tuesday in Niger State were recovered on Thursday as community members recalled harrowing experiences of the disaster.

The ill-fated wooden boat was conveying about 300 passengers from Kwara State to an event in neighbouring Niger State when it capsised at Gbajibo in Mokwa LGA of Niger State.

The recovery by local divers and officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) took the number of recovered bodies to 36, according to the state agency.

The Director-General of NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, said 16 bodies, comprising two females and 14 males, had earlier been recovered a day after the accident on Wednesday and buried in the Biger State side of the Gbajibo community.

He said 20 more bodies were recovered on Thursday by local divers working with the officials of NSEMA and NEMA, bringing the total number of deaths to 36.

Mr Baba-Arah said the search and rescue operation was continuing.

Harrowing experiences

Some relatives of the victims of the ill-fated boat and community members have recounted their experiences.

Although the incident happened in Gbajibo in Niger State, many of the victims were from the side of the community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, according to the locals.

An indigene, Mahmud Gbajibo, who spoke with journalists Thursday night, said the incident was emotionally devastating for the community.

“My father is the founder of the Mudi Gbajibo community in Kwara. I lost seven members of my family: two married nieces, three of my nephews and two younger brothers out of the eleven who came for a naming ceremony.

“The ceremony should have been held earlier, but I delayed it because I was in Ilọrin then. Many of us could not control our emotions when we saw our dead loved ones. We have to bury them at the Niger side of the community to avoid chaos back home in Kwara.

“After the incident, our women were running naked around the community. And now, nothing is happening in the community; no single shop is open, and nobody is cooking. You can’t get anything to buy, it’s terrible. Our deputy chief Imam and his three children who went to represent our Imam perished,” he said.

Mr Gbajibo, who was part of those who received the entourage of the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Danladi Salihu, told our correspondent that the community needs motorcycles.

“Many of the victims would not have joined the boats if we had motorcycles because there are road paths that lead to the place. So, we are pleading for the provision of motorcycles,” he said.

He said 96 bodies had been recovered and 53 buried, but this figure has not been independently verified yet.

Haron Yohana lost five family members. He said he bid them a safe trip but never realised that was the last time he would see them alive.

“I lost three nieces, my father and my younger brother in the incident. There were people we used to play and do things together. We have to control our emotions and do the needful.

“The incident happened in the night, and you would not know that anything happened there. It was another boat that passed through the spot that came to inform the community. Last week, three people drowned while crossing the same river. There is a need for enforcement of the use of life jackets and modern boats. This one is a wooden boat and old,” he said.

Another community member who preferred anonymity told PREMIUM TIMES last night that the boat broke in two parts in the middle of the water because of overloading. “Over a hundred people lost their breadwinners because a majority of the victims were fathers and husbands.”

Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday condoled with the government and people of Niger State over the boat accident.

The president, in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, his special adviser on information and strategy, commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead.

President Tinubu also directed the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to investigate the spate of boat accidents in Niger State and across the country and devise modalities to check the trend.

He ordered NIWA to expand the scope of its surveillance of inland waters to ensure our people’s safety and prosecute boat operators violating the ban on night sailing.

President Tinubu thanked emergency workers and local divers working to find the remaining people.