Watery graves: How travelling by boats have become deathbeds of the poor in Northern Nigeria

Olakunle Maruf, Attahiru Ahmed, Adelowo Oladipo and Tola Adenubi report on the rising cases of boat accidents that conitnued to claim lives in Northern Nigeria.

ONCE regarded as the lifelines of trade, farming, and daily travel, the rivers of northern Nigeria have in recent weeks become watery graves. A string of boat mishaps has left dozens dead, scores missing in Sokoto, Zamfara and Niger States, with communities reeling under grief that feels both preventable and familiar.

The pattern of this preventable mishaps is chilling as riverine communities in the Northern part of the country hemmed in by insecurity and poverty have little choice but to depend on rickety, overcrowded canoes. This choice led to nothing for these rural dwellers other than preventable deaths, injuries and traumas as the tranquil rivers turned into sites of grief and corridors of mourning.

Though emergency agencies, national waterway regulators and government officials have continued to come to their rescue, while offering reliefs, condolences and pledging reforms, particularly on overloading and other safety measures, the effect of these series of traumatic incidents have left a cold sore on the lips of the citizenry.

Across Sokoto, Zamfara, and Niger that have seen their share of the preventable waterways deaths, the grief among residents is raw and repetitive. Their voices echo a haunting truth that the waterways will remain as dangerous as the insecurity its people are trying to escape on land.

In just four weeks, three separate boat mishaps across Sokoto State have claimed multiple lives, left many missing and shaken riverine communities already burdened by insecurity and poverty.

The latest tragedy struck at dawn in Garin-Faji village, Sabon Birni Local Government Area on Thursday, September 4, 2025. Villagers in Garin-Faji,which began their day at dawn with prayers and a hurried attempt to flee fresh bandit attacks, began to pull out bodies out of dark waters with many wailing at the riverbank by sunrise.

A local passenger boat, overcrowded with villagers, capsized mid-river around 5:30 a.m. By the time rescuers arrived, six people were confirmed dead and three others were still missing. Nineteen survivors were pulled from the dark waters, many traumatised and nursing injuries.

As the hours rolled by, officials from the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) led a joint assessment mission to the scene.

“It is a heartbreaking tragedy,” said Head of NEMA Sokoto Operations Office, Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Kafin-Dangi. “Search and rescue operations are still ongoing to locate the missing persons.”

The on-the-spot assessment of the agencies and officials, which included representatives from the Red Cross, was also aimed to confirm casualties, console families, and assess urgent safety gaps.

But Garin-Faji’s sorrow was just the latest in a month of repeated heartbreak. Barely a month ago was the village of Kojiyo in Goronyo Local Government in the state plunged into similar mourning when a crowded boat ferrying dozens of passengers along the Sokoto-Rima River capsized.

By the end of the frantic rescue effort, four people were confirmed dead as five others were declared missing. About 41 passengers were recovered alive.

The Sokoto State deputy governor, Hon. Idris Muhammad Gobir, who led a government delegation to console bereaved families, pledged N20 million in relief and the distribution of motorised boats and life jackets to vulnerable riverine communities.

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“I assure you of our commitment to safeguarding lives and property,” Gobir was quoted telling villagers, while urging them to remain strong and accept the disaster as an act of God.

Yet in hushed tones, residents whispered their fears that more tragedies might follow if promises fail to turn into action.

Those fears were soon validated within days, as another boat carrying 11 passengers capsized between Tudun Launa and Ruggar Buda in Shagari Local Government Area on Thursday, August 28. One person, a 29-year-old man, died instantly. An 80-year-old woman disappeared beneath the waves and remains missing. Nine others survived the ordeal.

The victims were said to be returning from a market trip in Yabo Local Government when their journey turned fatal.

“It was terrifying,” one survivor told emergency officials. “We held onto pieces of the canoe, praying someone would find us before the river swallowed us too.”

For families scattered along Sokoto’s waterways, these repeated tragedies are neither random nor inevitable. To them, the incidents are the result of years of neglect, unsafe canoes, overcrowding, and the absence of strict safety rules. Most boats in use are rickety wooden vessels, often carrying both passengers and cargo far beyond safe limits.

How tragedy flowed into Zamfara

Sunday Tribune reports that such incidents were not limited to the state. Barely 24 hours after the incident in Sokoto State, 15 people were reported to have died, while three others remained missing after a boat capsized in Danmaga village of Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred when villagers boarded a local canoe meant for fewer passengers to escape armed bandit attacks that had besieged the surrounding community. The boat capsized, in an attempt to cross a river at Nasarawar Kifi in Birnin Tudu Ward of Gummi LGA, tipped and spilled them into the river that immediately swallowed them up.

Sources from the village said the victims were mostly children, women and youths from Danmaga, Tungar Maigunya, and Nasarawar Kifi.

According to a source, the ill-fated boat, which could only carry 16 passengers, was overloaded.

A resident of the village, Malam Musa Danmaga, in a telephone interview narrated that every year the community loses lives to boat mishaps due to inadequate transport facilities and the limited number of canoes available.

He further appealed to the state and federal governments to support the area by providing more canoes for the villagers whose farms and other business activities depend on water transportation.

The Village Head of Nasarawar Kifi, Alhaji Muhammadu Chigari, who was contacted by phone, also confirmed the tragic incident and lamented that the community needs urgent intervention from the authorities.

“This incident has consumed the lives of eight housewives, three babies, and four youths,” Chigari said, adding that local divers have been searching for the remaining missing persons.

“The deceased persons have since been buried in a mass funeral in accordance with Islamic rites,” he added.

A condolence visit into the great beyond

In Niger State, what set out to be a condolence visit to Dugga village quickly turned into a journey to the great beyond for some passengers last Tuesday as a boat that had taken off with between 90 and 138 passengers from Tugan Sule in Shagunu Ward, capsized along Gausawa community in Malale Ward of Borgu LGA.

In the initial rescue operation, 31 bodies were recovered dead while about 50 of the passengers were rescued alive, with two declared missing.

The overloaded boat was said to have run into a tree stump, which caused it to capsize.

Speaking to Sunday Tribune in a brief telephone interview on Friday, Director General of NSEMA, Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, stated that the search and rescue operation at the scene of the mishap has been concluded, adding that officials of NSEMA, in conjunction with local divers and NIWA, buried the deceased victims by the riverside.

Discordant passenger, casualty figures

Issues of safety on waterways became the burning issue following the incident as residents, stakeholders an official failed to ascertain the number of passengers aboard the boat before it capsized and the number of casualties recorded in the incident. Initial reports claimed that about 90 passengers were on the boat with about 50 of them rescued alive and about 31 dead.

Others sources told Sunday Tribune the wooden boat was carrying about 138 passengers at the time it capsized along the Shagunu–Dunga axis on Kainji Lake.

From the sources, rescue operations led by NIWA led to rescue of 104 people (46 men and 58 women) and an undisclosed number of children were saved with the aid of life jackets. It was also gathered that over 60 persons were confirmed dead.

People misuse life jackets as bed sheets, pillows ―NIWA

Still on safety, Sunday Tribune reports that not all passengers adhere to all safety measures when on the waterways. This belief was confirmed by NIWA, which said that despite distributing 3,500 life jackets to some riverine communities in Niger State, many prefer re-selling the life jackets or using them as pillow or bed sheets at home.

Speaking with the Sunday Tribune exclusively following the Niger incident, the Area Manager of NIWA in charge of Niger and Kwara States, Mr Akapo Adeboye, explained that passenger overload is another issue the authority is tackling.

According to the NIWA Area Manager, “The number one challenge is attitude. These people believe they were born on the waterfront and they know everything. For example, when we tell them to use life jackets, they call life jackets ‘singlets.’ They don’t believe it saves lives.

“Over the years, we have realised that sensitisation and life jacket distribution alone are not enough. For example, 3,500 life jackets were recently distributed during a flag-off in collaboration with the Niger State government, but when we went back to the communities that got the life jackets, we couldn’t find one in use. People were selling them, using them as pillows, bed sheets, or even on farms.

“So, NIWA and the state government, alongside the Niger State Boat Owners and Freshwater Association are working together to enforce the 2023 Inland Waterways Transportation Code.

“The rules include: No life jacket, no travel; no overloading or over speeding; no travel after 6p.m, amongst others. Enforcement is done with NIWA, Marine Police, Civil Defense, DSS, and others. Violators are prosecuted and jailed.”

When asked about prevalence of tree shrubs in the waterways, which often collide with passenger boats, thus increasing fatalities on the waterways, the NIWA Area Manager explained that, “Many accidents happen because people travel at night, sometimes as late as 2 a.m, using torchlights to navigate. This is why they often hit logs hidden underwater. Again, this boils down to attitude and ignorance.

“One of the major challenges that cause boat capsizing is the presence of tree shrubs. We have trees along Malale, Lokumene, Shaguno, Duga, Kokoli, Garafuni Takwa.

“During power generation processes, water flows through the entry points of dam sites into the Kainji Lake and pass through places like Awuru to Gbagibo Mudi, which connects to Gbagibo Mokwa, a boundary between Niger and Kwara, and then into Jebba dam, In the course of water coming in, it overwhelms many of the trees, thus making it difficult to sight them at night.

“This is why NIWA keeps campaigning against night trips. To reduce the menace of these trees to waterways movement, NIWA, in partnership with Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), have been able to cut trees at Kainji Lake. Our office took over the cutting and maintenance of those trees. The same applies to Jebba.

“We also make efforts to mark the channels and cut down some of these trees, though it’s not easy because some riverine communities use these trees as landmarks for navigation. We keep cutting down dangerous trees within the waterway’s channel, but we can’t cut them all because some riverine community told us some trees serve as signpost to know their route. For example, in Malale, there’s a big tree we left because, during high water, that tree is their only visible guide from almost 100 kilometers away.

“After clearing the channels, we put buoys there as photo channel guides to show boat operators the safe routes. We are now planning to do the same from Jebamoro down to Lokoja and then to Escravos. We work in partnership with the Nigerian Navy and our surveying department to ensure safety.”

On sensitisation of the people, Mr. Adeboye stated that, “At certain times, we have high-high water, then high-low water, and sometimes low-low water. The way people move on high water is different from low water. We constantly sensitise them about this because these people come in thousands, especially on Fridays and Saturdays for market days. We talk to them in languages they understand: Nupe, Basa, Yoruba, Gwari, and English. We try as much as possible to make them understand safety.

“We are setting up safety and rescue stations. For example, Bagibo will have a station linking down to Jebamoro and Baro. Currently, we have outlets at New Bussa and Baro, covering Malale, Lokomene, Shaguno, Duga, and Kokoli, down to Awuru (Jebba Lake axis).

“We have river marshals in about 30 communities. These marshals come from the communities themselves; most are trained divers. We also have patrol boats, surveillance boats, and ambulance boats on Kainji and Jebba lakes. We’ve installed live buoys along Bagibo Mokwa to Bagibo Muti and scanned the entire Kainji Lake channel for navigation safety.”