A boat carrying over 200 passengers, including market women and farm laborers, traveling from Kogi State to the Katcha weekly market in Niger State through the River Niger has capsized.
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) confirmed the incident on Friday.
According to eyewitnesses, the boat, owned by one Musa Dangana, was carrying more than 200 passengers when it capsized along the Dambo-Ebuchi section of the River Niger, killing an unconfirmed number of people.
The Head of NIWA’s Media Department, Suleman Makama, who confirmed the incident, stated that the market women were on their way to the market on Friday morning when the tragedy occurred.
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“It’s true there was a boat mishap on Thursday involving a significant number of women heading to the market in Niger State. We are still investigating to ascertain the number of people involved and the cause of the accident,” he said.
As of the time of this report, eight bodies have been recovered, while search-and-rescue operations are ongoing to locate the remaining passengers.
Makama added that he is awaiting management’s clearance to issue an official statement with detailed information about the incident. When asked how long this would take, he said he could not provide a specific timeline but assured he would update our correspondent as soon as possible.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Bola Oyebanji, had previously identified human error, drug use, and non-compliance with rules and regulations as the primary causes of boat mishaps over the past three years.
Speaking on Wednesday during an oversight visit by the House of Representatives Committee on NIWA to the authority’s headquarters in Lokoja, Oyebanji reiterated NIWA’s commitment to ensuring the safety of Nigerians using water transportation.
“Over 99% of mishaps on our waterways result from human error. Research shows operators are making avoidable mistakes, often with tragic consequences,” he said.
He also noted that some operators rely on drugs, impairing their judgment and leading to grave mistakes. Additionally, many are resistant to following safety protocols, such as operating wooden boats far beyond their capacity, sometimes carrying 150 to 200 passengers at a time.
Oyebanji stressed that the recently signed transportation code needs stricter enforcement, as many operators fail to adhere to its requirements, including the provision of life jackets for passengers.
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