11 people, including kids, feared dead in Benue boat mishap

At least 11 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, are feared dead after a boat carrying them from a burial ceremony capsized on River Benue in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.

A local source named Daniel said the incident took place on Saturday night. He spoke to journalists in a phone interview on Sunday.

Daniel explained that the victims were heading back to Daududawadawa community, an island community behind the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering Barracks in the North Bank area of the state capital.

He said the boat, which had about 40 people on board, capsized in the middle of the river between 7 PM and 8 PM during a heavy rain and windstorm.

Nura Umar, the Commander of a local vigilante group, Operation Shara (Sweep), confirmed the incident. He said the victims were returning from the burial of a woman from their community at Wadata.

Umar shared, “The deceased woman had been taken to a private hospital in North Bank on Saturday morning where she later died. The relatives and sympathizers from the island community decided to take her remains to Wadata for burial.

“After the burial, they boarded a boat to return to Daududawadawa community. At about 7 PM, heavy rain and strong winds started, and the boat capsized halfway into the journey.

“There were over 40 passengers on the boat, but 11 are feared dead. We have recovered four bodies so far and buried them. Meanwhile, divers are still searching for the remaining victims.”

Umar also mentioned that one of the survivors had a baby strapped to her back but lost the child in the accident.

When reached for comment, the state police command’s spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, said she had not received any report about the incident.

The chairman of Makurdi Local Government, Joseph Keffi, could not be reached as his phone was not answering.

This tragedy comes just six months after the state government promised to put strict safety measures in place to reduce boat accidents in the state’s waterways.

In January, the state government, through Friday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security and Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, launched a strict enforcement initiative.

Under the new safety rules, the government stressed the importance of life jackets for all passengers and boat operators, among other measures.