How Kwara Boat Mishap Claimed 106 Lives, Survivors Narrate Ordeals

Survivors of the Monday’s fatal boat mishap in Egbu village of Patigi local government area of Kwara State, have narrated how the incident happened in the midnight.

This is just as a father of a victim agonised over the death of his 15-year-old son in the incident.

LEADERSHIP reports that 106 passengers lost their lives to the boad accident.

One of the survivors of the fatal boat mishap, Ibrahim Mohammed, from Ebu village, said: “We had gone to Egboti village in Niger State for a wedding ceremony. So, around 3am we decided to start our return trip to Patigi. Three minutes after we started the journey, the boat collapsed. It broke and we all fell into the river. We were over 200 and there were more women and children in the capsized boat. Many people, especially women and children died because we couldn’t find help as the incident occurred in the midnight.”

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Another survivor, Muhammed Abdullahi, said: “Two minutes after we took off from Egboti village, the boat capsized. All the female occupants of the boat died. God helped me because I was able to climb a tree.”

For his part, Malam Yusuf Abubakar, whose 15-year-old son died in the mishap, said: “I was not in the boat but I was told that the boat broke into two inside the river. My son, a very hardworking tailor died in the incident. He was the breadwinner of my family as he used to help with money anytime the need arose. His death was a big blow to our family.”

A community leader in the area, Malam Salman Ahmed, lamented that the people resorted to water transportation because of lack of access roads in all the communities in that axis of Kwara North.

He said: “There were over 200 people in the wooden boat, which we learnt broke into two while on voyage. Our problem is that there is no access road that connects all the three communities in this area. We have no choice than to travel by waterways.”