Sokoto Boat Tragedy: Officials Recover More Bodies

Emergency officials said more lifeless bodies were recovered on Tuesday following the wooden boat mishap that took place in Sokoto Boat Tragedy: Officials Recover More Bodies on Sunday.

The officials confirmed that among the most recent bodies recovered was that of a female teenager in the Wamakko axis of the river, about 20 kilometres from the scene of the boat accident, bringing the number of bodies so far recovered to 10 about 48 hours after the unfortunate incident.

It was also gathered that 20 other persons, who survived the accident, were rescued through the combined efforts of the village community and officials of the Sokoto Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sokoto zonal office on the first day of the fatal journey.

According to available reports, the boat, which capsized in the middle of the river, was conveying teenagers and some elderly persons from the village, who were hired for manual labour in farms along the river banks.

Sources hinted that the boat driver lost control of the vessel due to turbulent waves some meters away from the destination point, which made it turn upside down, sending the helpless passengers flying into the stormy waters.

However, emergency officials said that although hope was rapidly fading, search operations were ongoing offshore, adding that there were possibilities that more bodies could be found and recovered from the river.

Officials familiar with the area said the boat accident was the worst and most horrendous in over three decades, noting that it is more terrible than the tragic incident of 2003 when the same river claimed the life of former Chairman of Illela Local Government Area, Hon. Saidu Nahantsi Illela.

Illela, who was a former senatorial candidate of the defunct Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) for Sokoto East, died while trying to cross the river after a day’s job at his potato farm. It was reported then that he slipped and fell back into the river and expert divers were able to recover his body a few meters away from his farm after several hours of search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the former Sokoto state governor, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako has sympathized with the Dundaye community over what he described as an unfortunate incident, saying that the scenario will leave an indelible pain in the minds of the parents of teenagers who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones in the ill-fated boat.

Wamakko, who was accompanied by many chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased.