Survivors of the recent boat mishap in Niger State have narrated how some fishermen came to their rescue when the incident occurred
The disaster which took place at a boundary of the state with Kogi State on River Niger occurred on November 29 on the Dembo-Ebuchi section of River Niger, resulting in the loss of lives.
It was reported that no fewer than 40 people died in the mishap when the boat hit a log of wood underneath the water.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the boat was carrying farmers and market women from Egbe community in Kogi State in the night when the accident occurred.
Some of the survivors, mostly from Katcha, revealed the cause of the mishap. They told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the accident was not due to overloading as many thought but the boat hit a log of wood underneath the water.
While confirming that they were not wearing life Jackets when the mishap occurred, a survivor Umar Yahaya said he boarded the boat populated mostly by women from Egbe in Kogi State where they went for farming to their village in Katcha local government area of NIger State.
Yahaya said, “the last I can recall was a loud noise from the bottom of the boat. After that, I saw water taking over the boat and I was struggling to swim in the middle of the River. Some of us who could swim tried to survive before the fishermen came to our rescue,” he added.
Another survivor, Shehu Mohammed said, “We went for farm work around a community called Egbe, and we were on our way back at night; our boat had an encounter with tree log buried by water and broke a part of the boat which led to heavy opening for the water to take over the boat completely.
“Before the boat operators could try to get to a safer ground, the entire boat was taken over by water. Some fishermen around tried to rescue us; out of the 14 of us from Katcha community, only one person is still missing but our personal belongings including food items on board were all drowned. We thank God we survived it.”
Another survivor, Umar Nda said, “Some of us who were able to make it alive were young boys. We were returning from a farm where we work as labourers and others were children and women going to the market.
“It was not overloading that caused it. Though it was loaded, it’s not up to the extent of sinking the boat. We hit a log of wood underneath, and a hole was created in the bottom of the boat making it easy for water to enter the boat which made the boat sink,” he narrated.
All the survivors who spoke confirmed that some of the women who could not survive the mishap were with their children ages between 3 to 10 years.
Umar said, “I know of a woman with two of her children about 5 and 7-year-olds who could not make it. It is very painful and agonising to see a mother and children swallowed by the River like that.
“Another woman has a three-year-old baby. Another woman, I can recall, was pregnant. It is indeed a sad story to recall,” he added.
Some experts posited that the fatality in boat mishap was due to unwillingness of the boat drivers and the passengers to enforce the use of life Jackets as always promoted by the state government and stakeholders.
On why the enlightenment of the life Jackets is low, the chairman of Katcha local government area, Abdullahi Saku said the council and all relevant state and federal government agencies always educate the people but they still refused to use the jackets.
The director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah confirmed the boat mishap saying “the boat was sailing from Egbe Community of Kogi State with a population of almost 50 passengers heading to Katcha market.”
In the mishap the NSEMA boss confirmed, eight people were rescued alive then. He said 18 of the bodies recovered were from Kogi State while 4 were from Akwanu community in Agaie local government area of Niger State.
It was gathered that of over 50 people on board, only 13 were rescued alive while over 40 people died in the mishap.
A fisherman who was the first to provide rescue efforts for the accident victims, Jacob Adawon, painted a gory picture of the incident.
Adawon said, “The remains of one of the victims was buried here, but his personal belongings and national ID are kept here for the family to track his whereabouts.
He said he was at the bank of the River when he watched the accident and the boat was suddenly filled with water as he hurriedly went with a wooden boat to help rescue some of the victims.
He said during the operation, 13 people were rescued and later some dead bodies were also evacuated.
Another eyewitness simply identified as Ibrahim said the accident occurred not too far from the Kogi State side of the River, adding that the rescue operation would have been easier if the accident occurred at day time.
He said, beyond the use of life Jackets, the River needed to be dredged to remove all the underneath woods that often cause mishap.
He said the dredging of the River Niger with waterways from Lokoja up to Katcha and Agaie must be done to remove some of the obstacles on the ways.
While commiserating with the victims, he said the council will start to monitor the enforcement of the jacket-wearing on the waterways.