Twenty-nine persons have been confirmed dead in a boat accident that occurred in a community called Gausawa in Borgu Local Government Area in Niger State at about 11:30am on Tuesday.
The boat, which was loaded with 90 people, including women and children, was going for a condolence visit in another community.
The cause of the accident was attributed to overloading and a collision with a tree stump.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS learnt that the passengers were not wearing any lifejackets when the boat capsized.
An anonymous source in the state Ministry of Transport, who preferred anonymity because he did not have any permission to speak with the media, disclosed that the boat passengers were not wearing lifejackets, pointing out that if they were wearing them, more people would have been rescued.
“The passengers were obviously not wearing any lifejackets because if they were wearing them, more, if not all of them, in the boat, would have survived the accident.
“Borgu is very far, and a lot of these passengers do not like to wear the lifejackets for reasons best known to them,” the source said.
As of the time of filing this report, 29 corpses had been recovered, with 50 persons rescued, while two people are said to be still missing.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, confirmed the accident, saying a search and rescue operation was still ongoing.
“NSEMA has received a report of a boat accident at a community called Gausawa in the Malale area/ward of Borgu LGA.
“According to our desk officer who led the search and rescue operations, the boat took off from a community called Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward with 90 people on board, which included women and children, heading to Dugga for a condolence visit.
“The incident happened on Tuesday at about 11:30am, and the cause was attributed to overloading and a collision with a tree stump.
“Search and rescue operations are still ongoing for possible recovery of missing persons,” Baba-Arah said.
This is the second boat accident in Niger State in 2025. The first one happened in July and was attributed to a tree stump. The National Inland Waterway Agency had distributed lifejackets in Mokwa after the Mokwa flood, which killed over 200 people.
