No fewer than nine bodies have been recovered following a boat accident which involved about 300 passengers around the River Niger upstream, Jebba dam, in Gbajibo Community in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State.
Findings have it that the passengers are all from Kwara State and it included the Chief Imam of old Gbajiko village.
According to a statement by the Commissioner of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ahmed Baba Suleiman Yumu and signed by the Director Media and Strategy, Habibu Wushishi, the boat was sailing from Mundi Community with almost 300 passengers on board, comprising mostly women and children for Maulid celebration at Gbajibo.
He said, “I received with shock the report of the Boat mishap which took place at Gbajibo village in Mokwa Local Government on Tuesday 1st October, out of the about 300 passengers, only 150 were rescued alive.”
He added that the Ministry is working assiduously with the Ministry of Transport, Niger State Emergency Management Agency and National Inland Water Ways to update all critical stakeholders of the mishap.
Also speaking, the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Baba Arah, said the accident was due to overloading and night travel, adding that search and rescue has since commenced.
He further commended the prompt response from community volunteers, saying “over 150 persons have been rescued alive so far.”
While disclosing that the search and rescue operation is still ongoing to locate more survivors, he said, “9 corpses which include two females and seven males have been rescued.”
Over three hundred communities are flooded and an estimated five million locals sacked from their homes in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State in North Central Nigeria.