The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has reported that 36 dead bodies of victims from the tragic incident on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, have been recovered from the waters near the capsized boat at Gbajibo village, a riverine community in the Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State.
The Director General of NSEMA, Hon. Abdullahi Baba Arah, confirmed the number of deceased passengers from the ill-fated boat in a press statement signed and made available to journalists on Thursday in Minna.
It is worth noting that at approximately 12:40 PM on Thursday, October 3, 2024, the NSEMA boss provided an update indicating that eight more corpses had been recovered by the search and rescue operation teams from the waters upstream of the Jebba Dam in the River Niger. This brings the total number of recovered bodies to 24, in addition to the earlier 16 bodies consisting of two females and 14 males recovered during the search efforts on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Similarly, at around 6:40 PM on the same day, Thursday, October 3, 2024, Director General Arah stated, “We have so far recovered 36 dead bodies as of 6:00 PM this evening.”
Baba Arah did not mention that the search and rescue operation is still ongoing for the remaining 134 people who have been declared missing by the agency as of Wednesday, following the recovery of several deceased victims, mostly passengers on board the ill-fated capsized boat late in the evening at Gbajibo village.
Meanwhile, with the recovery of these dead bodies, it means that between Wednesday and Thursday, approximately 20 more corpses have been retrieved from the waters. The operation is being coordinated by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) in conjunction with the state Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, among others.
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