BOAT MISHAP CLAIMS 14 LIVES INCLUDING WOMEN IN NIGER STATE

Fourteen persons, including 11 women from the same family, in Dan Gunu village, have perished in a boat mishap in River Sarkin Pawa, Niger State.

Another boat, involving three persons, also suffered the same fate in River Guni, both in Munya Local Government Area of the state.

An eyewitness told Vanguard that the villagers were returning from farm, Monday evening, when the incident occurred. 

The women and two men, it was gathered, had gone to the farm to harvest groundnut. The incident occurred on their return journey. The only survivors were the two men.

As villagers at Dan-Gunu village mourned the death of their beloved ones, reports of the River Guni incident, which claimed three lives, filtered in.

Some of the dead were identified as Munau, Wara, Fiddausi, Zainab, Najaatu, Ikilima, Fatima, Ladidi, Balaraba and Hafsat.

The senator representing Niger East, Senator David Umaru, in a condolence message to the people of the two communities, described the incidents as shocking and unfortunate.

He added that the disaster had brought to the fore the sufferings of the people of the area as a result of the activities of Shiroro Hydro Dam.

He lamented the lack of roads and bridges in the area, adding that “this has shown the urgent need and necessity for the immediate take off of the HAPPADEC Commission, which will, in no small measure, alleviate the suffering of people of the area.”

He explained that the lives of the people in the area had been made more difficult with the disastrous perennial flooding.

He noted that since the construction of the dam, nothing had been done to make the life of the people comfortable.

He called on the relevant authorities to ensure immediate implementation of the HAPPADEC Act, which had been passed by the National Assembly.