THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed that four people lost their lives while 41 others were rescued in the recent boat accident in Goronyo, Sokoto State.
In a statement issued on Friday by the agency’s Head of Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, NEMA disclosed that the death toll rose following the recovery of an additional body earlier in the day.
The agency said the recovered victim was laid to rest immediately after a funeral prayer was conducted in accordance with Islamic rites.
“As part of the rescue operations carried out on Thursday, 21st August 2025, the response team visited four villages – Takuske, Kwakwazu, Bari and Gamiha – where many of the passengers of the ill-fated boat were believed to have lived.
“These visits enabled officials to verify the number of persons still missing and to commiserate with bereaved families. It was during these visits that it was confirmed 16 persons had survived the mishap,” the statement read.
Following these developments, NEMA announced that the multi-agency search and rescue mission had now been formally concluded.
The operation was jointly executed by NEMA, the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Goronyo Local Government Authority, and local community divers.
The Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, lauded the dedication of the rescue team and the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, which, she said, ensured the success of the operation.
The tragic accident occurred on Sunday, August 17, 2025, near Kojiyo village in the Goronyo Dam area of the state.
Boat mishaps are frequent on Nigeria’s waterways, often caused by overcrowding and poorly maintained vessels, particularly during the rainy season when rivers and lakes overflow their banks.
In December 2024, the head of operations for NEMA in Kogi State, Justin Uwazuruonye, confirmed that 54 bodies were recovered from a boat accident involving about 200 traders in the state.
Uwazuruonye pointed out that the lack of a passenger manifest made it challenging to ascertain the exact number of people on board.
Similarly, in August 2024, at least 16 farmers lost their lives in Sokoto State after a wooden canoe conveying them across a river to their rice fields capsized.
Also on July 29, 2025, six young girls drowned in north-western Jigawa State when the boat transporting them home from farm work overturned midstream.
Just two days earlier, on July 27, another tragedy struck in central Niger State, where at least 13 people were killed in a separate boat accident.
A reporter with the ICIR
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