Bound together by fate

BIOLA AZEEZ paid a visit to Lafiagi in Kwara State which is still mourning the death of their loved ones in a boat accident. He reports how the people are coping with the pains of losing relations and friends same day.

IDRISU Salihu surely had a premonition of the evil that was about to befall members of his family on the very first day of the last month of the year. Idrisu said that he woke up feeling disturbed about what the day would bring, which was quite unlike himself.

The father of four had even argued with his wife over her decision to make her journey by boat instead of the though, bumpy road in their community. Unfortunately, Idrisu lost his wife and a two year old son in the December 1 boat mishap at Chewuru ferry port, River Niger bank, Lafiagi in Edu Local Government Area along with other victims.

While the corpse of Salihu’s wife was recovered, that of his two-year old son was yet to be found. Sympathizers, had since the incident thronged the residence of the middle aged man on a daily basis to commiserate with him.

“My mind was not at rest. I told her to join a vehicle but she explained that a group arrangement had been made to board a ferry boat to Niger State. Hence, she couldn’t withdraw from the rest of the group. So, I agreed with her and wished her a safe trip.

“After she left, I was resting outside here yet I was not comfortable. I then decided to enter my room. I had slept for just few minutes when one of my friends came in to tell me that my wife had been involved in boat accident. I just got up and went to the scene together with my younger brother. Unfortunately, I met the corpse beside the river.

“She was going to Niger State to attend the ceremony associated with completion of quranic education known as wolimat Quran on Sunday. I had expected her to return on Monday, but she couldn’t return home again. But I believe everything is from God. We came from Him and we have to return to Him.

“We had planned to see to proper education of our young children with high expectations of becoming worthy citizens, but God knows best,” he said.

 

How it happened

Some days before the incident, the people, made up of largely women, had made and concluded arrangement with the local ferry boat operator to take them across the river early Saturday morning, at about 8:00 am on December 1, 2018 for the celebration, carrying along cooked and raw food items, among other goods.

The ferry boat had not gone more than two minutes on the supposed one-hour journey, when some of the passengers noticed water already coming inside the boat.

In a twinkle of an eye, the boat had capsized while the occupants yelled out cries of anguish and sorrow for likely rescue. A wooden canoe came to their rescue and about five persons, including a young boy, were rescued.

Investigation later revealed that the accident was caused by overloading of the eight-passenger rescue boat which was reportedly turned to commercial use.

It was also gathered that the normal commercial passenger boat, owned by the local government authority and used by members of the public, was faulty and had not been put to use in the past six months.

The boat, which reportedly carried over 20 passengers, as against eight for its capacity, also carried goods and was said to be on top speed, when the incident happened.

One of the survivors is a housewife, Aishetu Yusuf. She narrated her harrowing experience to Sunday Tribune.

“We arrived the ferry port one after the other to go for the wolimat Quran in Minna. We are all members of same family. We seated four on each of the four wooden seats in the boat, making 16 of us. Later, another young lady came and was seated on our goods, making 17. There were two boat operators on each side.

“As we started the journey I heard one of the operators telling the other that he should be careful because the boat was already going down due to overloading of both the passengers and load.

“In a twinkle of an eye, water was already entering the boat. Within minutes, cries and calls for Allah’s help rented the air as the boat capsized. We were just shouting help! Help! We were all scattered all around. Some of us held on to the boat. In our anguish, we called on to a Hausa man paddling a wooden canoe to help us. He helped six of us inside his wooden canoe. By the time we got to a safe place, two people have died. Many others were not found; all our money and goods got lost except the clothes we had on. We were all 17 passengers inside the boat, two operators, while some carried their children on their laps,” she narrated.

While residents of the area were quite sympathetic to the plight of their neighbours involved in the incident, they were also angry, saying that the occurrence was an avoidable one.

• 19 children feared killed in Kwara boat mishap

Speaking on the development, Hon. Mohammed Zubair Qudus, a former councilor, Lafiagi ward II, said that the cause of the accident was due to recklessness and carelessness of the boat operators.

“The boat is not meant for commercial purpose but for rescue operations like when a ferry develops a fault on the sea, or the fuel got exhausted. It’s very fast. But it got converted to commercial use because we don’t value our lives. The local government authority bought it for rescue purpose because it also has a ferry boat there. The boat has capacity for seven passengers that should even be on life jacket, but carried more than 20 people including goods. You can see we don’t value our lives in Africa.

“The local government authority should stop the use of the rescue boat for commercial purpose henceforth. Also, the federal government should come to our aid by constructing the road linking Kwara and Niger states. That’s from Gbugbu to Nnagi in Niger State. The travel time is shorter and it is more economical to connect the two states, even better than Jebba Road.

“It’s about 42 kilometres and 30 minutes drive from Lafiagi to Minna, Niger state, if not for the sea. The federal government should help construct another bridge since the government is giving some people second Niger Bridge. We’re so enclosed in Lafiagi with only one way and no other outlet. The government should help us because it’s beyond capacity of local and state governments,” he said.

Also speaking, the Director, Personnel and Management, Edu Local Government council, Alhaji Tosho Balogun, confirmed that the flying boat was meant for rescue operation.

“It’s the people that have ceremony that requested to make use of it in the absence of the actual ferry boat because the ferry has not been working in the past few months,” he said.

The local government official also joined the call for federal government intervention to link the people with Niger State through the construction of a bridge across the river.

 

Unfulfilled dreams

One of the victims, Fatimoh Idris, was Idrisu Salihu’s wife. She was a graduate of Accounting from the University of Katsina. She died alongside her two-year old child.

The housewife had just finished her degree programme at Katsina State University and currently undergoing National Teachers Institute (NTI) programme at Government Secondary School (GSS), Lafiagi.

Her husband, Idrisu Salihu said: “She was to round up the programme this year, she had written her final exams and had even paid for her project. Her mother is still alive,” he said.

Speaking on her unfulfilled dreams, Idris broke into tears saying, “She had plans, she had programmes; she was a resourceful material that has given my life meaning,” he said.

For a Lafiagi-based businessman, Muhammed Nuru, it was mixed fortunes for him having lost his wife and brother while his elder brother, Abdulrasak and sister survived the ill-fated boat mishap.

Nuru said that he has been unable to break the news of his wife’s death to his young children. Recounting his last moments with the deceased, he said, “I took her to the jetty myself that day, she was going for Quranic graduation ceremony at a neighbouring community in Minna and they almost got to their destination when death snatched her from me.

“I don’t have parents; she was all in all for me. Since my parents died, she had been taking care of me and my younger ones and I cannot do anything without her,” he lamented.

During a visit to the jetty where the boats took off, an old man, Umaru Tsowa who coordinates the affairs of the enterprise debunked the widespread reports that the boat was overloaded.

He said that the boat has the capacity for 16 passengers but it carried 17, adding that the boat captain also loaded some bags of rice.

“What caused the mishap can’t be overloading. The boat had 17 passengers on board, though it has the capacity for just 16,” he said.

Similarly, a captain, Umaru Shaaba who also spoke with Sunday Tribune at the jetty stated that the boat capsized as a result of high volume water seepage into the boat.

According to Shaaba, immediately the captain noticed the inflow of water, the boat capsized, so they had no time to avert the danger.

“Such incident has never happened with our ferry type of boat, Chewuru is just 15 minutes ride from Lafiagi, and five minutes with government’s speed boat. Government only gave us the boat without life jackets to wear. No boat has it here,” he said.

Speaking on how to avert future occurrence, brother-in-law of one of the victims, Alhaji Usman Ndanusa Idris, said government should provide lifeguards.

Speaking further, he said, “We want government to construct a bridge that will link Lafiagi and Chewuru and to also provide enough life jackets for passengers. Also, personnel should be employed to ensure that boat captains have life jackets and other necessary materials for safety.

“It was only those who were able to hold on to the boat after it capsized that survived. If they were all wearing life gadgets, they would have all floated rather than drowning,” he said.