This is the second such incident in less than a week. Just six days ago, four people died in a similar one in Goronyo Local Government Area.
Six people have died, and three others remain missing after a boat capsized in Garin Faji, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Thursday as residents attempted to flee an attack by suspected bandits. Nineteen others were rescued.
Eyewitnesses say panic broke out when armed men were spotted advancing, forcing villagers who had been hiding in nearby bushes to rush into a canoe that later capsized midstream.
The lawmaker who represents Sabon Birni in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu Boza, lamented that insecurity has forced many communities into displacement.
The Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the deaths, adding that search and rescue operations are ongoing for the missing. Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Red Cross have since joined in an assessment of the affected community.
Authorities say security operatives recently foiled another attack in the area, but residents insist more presence is needed as banditry continues to displace entire communities.
This is the second such incident in less than a week. Just six days ago, four people died in a similar accident in Goronyo Local Government Area.
Last week, NEMA said that three bodies have so far been recovered from the boat accident in Sokoto State.
It said that 25 people out of the over 50 passengers of the boat had so far been rescued.
The agency, however, said that it had concluded the search and rescue operation.
NEMA’s Head of Sokoto Operation Office, Aliyu Kafindangi, disclosed this on Wednesday.
“For the past three days, we have been on a rescue mission after a boat carrying farmers, market men, and women capsized.
“The boat capsized on Sunday with over 50 passengers on board. Luckily for us, that very day, 25 people were rescued alive. And then the following day, search and rescue continued, but we were not able to retrieve anybody,” Kafindangi said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
