Boat Mishap Claims 50 Lives in Kogi

By Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja
 

A boat accident on Friday morning, claimed over 50  lives at Ebbe, a riverine area in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State while goods worth millions of naira were also lost. 

The incident took place at Miza village  when the boat that was on its way to the popular Friday Market in Katcha village,  a border town between Kogi and Niger States, had a head-on collision with an oncoming boat. 

THISDAY gathered on Friday that both boats  were loaded with mostly women, Children.

and goods.

According to the sources,  the women were said to be taking smoked fish from surrounding villages and communities to the market, a trade they have been known for.  

An eyewitness who was among passengers inside the boat, Muhammadu Ndalugi, disclosed to newsmen that the incident occurred due to poor visibility at the time of their voyage as a result of harmattan. 

He said the drivers, despite the obvious sounds of the engines, did not really see one another clearly, hence the collision.  

A relative of one of the victims, Ayishetu Ahmadu,  could not control her tears as she narrated the loss of her aunt, whom she said, was on the boat from Ebbe.  

She wondered  why the incident had to happen now, and at the end, said it was the will of Allah.

“My aunt had been used to going to Katcha Market and she was famous for her jovial  nature, but today, Allah has decreed that she had to ‘go’ and there is nothing anyone can do about it,” she lamented amidst tears.  

Local divers were at the scene of the incident trying to recover more bodies at the time of filing this report as several relatives had their hearts in their mouths awaiting the fate of their loved ones on that journey.  

Others who had their relations confirmed drowned, said they only wanted to get the bodies in order to give them proper burials.