Monday June 12, 2023, will linger for a long time in the history of the people of Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.
While Nigerians were eagerly waiting to celebrate the June 12 Democracy Day declared as a public holiday by the Federal government, tragedy struck in the area as a boat overloaded with 270 wedding guests capsized killing about 106 persons between Niger and Kwara state on the River Niger.
About 144 persons survived the boat accident which occurred at about 3 am according to local authorities and a police report.
The 270 wedding guests were returning from a marriage ceremony at Gboti in neighbouring Niger State to Patigi Local Government in Kwara State when the tragic incident occurred on the fateful day.
According to a police account, 61 persons from Egbu village died in the mishap, 38 from Dzakan village, four from Kpada, two from Kuchalu, and three from Sampi village.
It was learnt that the boat hit a tree amid strong waves leading to the overloaded boat capsizing.
The passengers of the boat, mostly local people, were without life jackets hence the high casualties recorded in the incident.
Chairman, Transition Implementation Committee of Patigi Local Government Council, Mohammed Ibrahim Liman, said in an interview on Thursday that 106 persons died in the boat accident, while 144 survived.
He said the rescue operation had been concluded and the survivors, mostly women and children reunited with their families after medical attention.
Liman disclosed that three villages affected by the incident included Kpada, Ebu and Dzakan in Patigi Local Government of Kwara state, while six persons from two villages in Kogi state also lost their lives.
The Area Manager, National Inland Waterways Authority, in charge of Niger-Kwara areas, Akapo Adeboye, while reacting to the incident, attributed the boat mishap to overloading and turbulent winds.
This is a very sad situation that is avoidable, because what led to it was due to overloading of the boat by the operators, they want to make more money and overload their boats.
“We have educated them through messages in English, Hausa and other languages spoken in this area, but they won’t listen.
“We even set up a safety unit and when we apprehend any defaulter, we sanction them through payment of fines up to N100, 000.
Despite all our efforts at making sure that they comply with the safety standards that they must have life jackets, lifebuoys and other safety equipment on board, many of the operators just choose the easiest way out by travelling at night just because they want to avoid our monitoring and safety patrol,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a swift move to avert future occurrence, the Kwara state Governor, Malam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, while on a condolence visit to families of the victims, announced safety measures to be taken by the government on water travels in the state.
He said the government will send legislation to the parliament that will impose punishments and fines for violations of the safety protocol.
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