ABOUT 29 people lost their lives in a boat accident that occurred in the Malale area of Borgu Local Government, Niger State, on Tuesday, September 2.
The incident reportedly happened in the Gausawa community at about 11:30 am.
According to reports, the boat was carrying over 90 passengers, including women and children. It was coming from Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward and was heading to Dugga for a condolence visit when tragedy struck.
Confirming the incident, the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, said the mishap was a result of overloading and a collision with a tree stump.
Baba Arah said 50 people were rescued alive, while two people were still missing.
“Search and rescue operations are ongoing for possible recovery of missing persons,” he stated.
He added that the deceased victims have since been buried.
The ICIR reports that this is the second boat accident in Niger State in 2025. The first one occurred in July and was due to a tree stump.
Boat mishaps are frequent on Nigeria’s waterways, often caused by a lack of life jackets, overcrowding and poorly maintained vessels, particularly during the rainy season when rivers and lakes overflow their banks.
On Friday, August 29, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) confirmed a boat mishap at the Jaranja River in the Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The incident, the third within a month in the state, claimed two lives, while nine injured victims were rescued in the tragedy.
The accident occurred barely a week after four people died in a boat mishap at Kojiyo village in Goronyo Local Government Area of the state.
In the accident, which occurred on August 17, 41 passengers were rescued and five declared missing.
Recall that another incident occurred at Faji Community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the state on August 22.
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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