Boat capsizes in Kebbi, 40 feared dead

At least 40 people are missing and presumed to have drowned in northwest Nigeria’s Kebbi state after a passenger boat capsized in strong currents, a local official said on Monday.

The boat was carrying more than 150 passengers, mostly women and children, from Kasabo village to Yauri town for commercial activities on Monday morning.

According to Yusuf Birma, head of the National Inland Waterways Authority (Niwa),

“The boat did not load at a designated jetty, so there was no manifest to know the exact number onboard. “It was meant to be carrying between 131 and 150, but certainly not up to the 180 being quoted,” he said.

He added that some of the boat operators, not wanting to pay taxes, did not load at the jetties but preferred to pick passengers along the way where they were unregulated.

The waterways authority that regulates water transport in Nigeria said the boat had been overcrowded and went down an hour into its journey.

The state governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, expressed his shock and sorrow over the tragedy and condoled with the bereaved families of the victims.