36 corpses recovered in Niger boat accident

A total of 36 corpses have been recovered so far from the capsized boat in the river at Gbajibo, Niger State.

Our correspondent gathered that a search-and-rescue operation by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency and other stakeholders had recovered 25 corpses by Wednesday.

NSEMA Director General, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, provided an update on Thursday, stating that the number of recovered corpses had risen to 36.

He said, “Thirty-six dead bodies recovered so far as of 6 pm today.”

He had earlier confirmed that nine and 14 bodies had been recovered in previous reports, respectively.

Reports revealed that the boat accident involved 300 passengers from the Mundi community, who were on their way to attend a Maulud celebration at the Gbajibo community in the state.

According to Baba-Arah, 150 passengers were immediately rescued, while another 150 were declared missing.

He disclosed that the boat had a large number of women and children on board. Search-and-rescue operations are still ongoing to recover more missing passengers.

“NSEMA is directing and monitoring search-and-rescue operations in collaboration with the State Ministry of Transport, Mokwa Local Government Emergency Committee, brave local divers, and other community volunteers,” Baba-Arah stated.