Officials report that approximately 10 individuals were saved following an incident in the northwestern area of an African nation.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of Nigeria has stated that its team in Sokoto is actively engaged in helping with the recovery efforts after a “sad boat event”.
Director General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, expressed that they were alerted to the situation due to “reports indicating that a boat holding over 50 people had overturned en route to Goronyo Market”.
NEMA has confirmed via their social media statement that about 10 individuals have been salvaged, while more than 40 people remain unaccounted for.
According to Nigeria’s The Punch newspaper, the incident could be attributed to overcrowding, a frequent concern in the state’s riverside settlements.
Boat disasters are frequent in Nigeria, especially during the annual wet season, which runs from March through October, when rivers and lakes swell.
At least 16 farmers lost their lives in a similar occurrence in Sokoto State back in August 2024, when a wooden canoe transporting them to their rice fields capsized.
In the previous month, at least 13 people perished and numerous others went missing after a boat carrying about 100 passengers capsized in Niger State, located in north-central Nigeria.
Two days after that, six girls lost their lives after the boat they were on, heading them home from their agricultural work, capsized midstream in Jigawa State, in the northwest of the country.
