200 TRADERS FEARED DEAD AS BOAT CAPSIZES IN KOGI
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200 TRADERS FEARED DEAD AS BOAT CAPSIZES IN KOGI
No fewer than 200 traders have been feared dead in a boat accident that occurred in Kogi State.
The Head of Media Department of National Inland Waterways, Suleman Makama, confirmed the incident on Friday, even as he said he didnt have much information about it as of the time of speaking with newsmen.
The traders were reportedly on their way to Niger when the accident occurred.
According to the sources, the boat capsized along the Dambo-Ebuchi sections of River Niger, killing the women.
One of the sources said, “It’s true that there was a boat accident on Thursday involving quite a number of women going to the market in Niger State. We don’t know the number of people involved as well as what led to the accident.”
According to eyewitnesses, the boat, which belonged to one Musa Dangana, was carrying over 200 passengers, including market women and farm labourers, en route to the Katcha weekly market in Niger State.
As of the time of this report, eight bodies were said to have been recovered, while search and rescue operations continue to locate the remaining passengers.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Bola Oyebanji, had identified human errors, drugs and disobedience to rules and regulations as the major causes of boat accidents that had occurred in the past three years.
Oyebanji stated this while fielding questions from members of the House Representatives Committee on NIWA, who were on oversight function to the headquarters of the authority in Lokoja, on Wednesday.
He said, “Ninety- nine percent of the mishaps on the waterways are a result of human errors. Research has shown that the operators are committing avoidable mistakes which shouldn’t have caused havoc.”
Oyebanji noted that some of the operators lived on drugs to influence their activities to make them high and eventually make unpardonable mistakes.
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