Eight children are feared dead in boat mishap while crossing a river in a boat in Gusau, Zamfara State.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the incident happened on Saturday in Gadar Berger, in the Tullukawa area of Gusau, the state capital.
It was further gathered that residents of the area always cross the river to get uncontaminated water due to persistent water scarcity in the state capital.
In a video obtained by the DAILY NIGERIAN, an eyewitness, Shehu Hamza, said the incident happened as a result of overloading by the boat skippers.
“Many parents do send their children to this river to fetch water for domestic use, due to the scarcity we are experiencing in Gusau.
“And you know they would have to cross to the other end using boats to get clean water, but unfortunately there was an accident.
“The accident was mainly due to overload. Most of these boats have a capacity of 10 people, but sometimes you would see them carrying 20–30 people, which the government has constantly warned against,” Mr Hamza said.
He said the recent incident is the third in a series of boat mishaps in the river.
“So far, we have rescued about eight people, and they are all male and female children below the age of 10.
“The oldest among them would be around 10 years old. This has really upset us. I’m sure there are still some who have drowned in the river.
When contacted, the acting police public relations officer in the state, Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the incident, saying, however, that he was yet to get full detail of the incident.
“The CP has directed the DPO in charge of the central division to go find out what transpired,” he said.
