SIX people have died following a boat mishap in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue state.
Forty travellers were aboard the boat during the incident, and 26 have been rescued with eight other passengers still missing.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Benue State Police Command Catherine Anene disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
“On 20/9/2022 at 1300hrs a boat conveying forty person’s from Guma LGA to Buruku LGA for business capsised in the river around Fada village, Guma LGA.
“Combined efforts of the police and fishermen in the area led to the rescue of twenty-six(26) persons who were taken to hospital for treatment, six (6) corpses have been recovered while a search for the remaining eight (8) persons is on going,” she noted.
While commiserating with families of the deceased, Benue State Commissioner of Police Wale Abass advised residents to exercise maximum safety measures during boat travels, considering the recent rise in water level.
This mishap comes less than a week after warnings over the rise in major rivers and water sources across various parts of Nigeria by the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
The Agency had called on authorities and residents in several states, including Benue to be conscious of flood and other disasters which could result from the rise in the level of various water bodies in the country.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.