Flood kills residents, submerges houses in Adamawa
….13 Dead, 26 Rescued, Several Missing In Niger Boat Accident
A boat carrying 39 passengers has capsized in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
The incident which happened on Saturday claimed the lives of 13 individuals.
Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), said 26 people were successfully rescued.
In a statement, NSEMA’sDeputy Public Relations Officer, Malik Baba Suleiman, said the dead victims have been buried according to Islamic rites.
He said the agency’s search and rescue operation, which began immediately after the incident, led to the recovery of all 13 bodies.
Among the deceased were eight women, three men, and two children.
Though the identities of the victims are yet to be released, but the incident has since thrown the community into a state of mourning.
The ill-fated boat, which was reportedly overloaded with goods and passengers, capsized near Guni village around 11:45 a.m. while en route to Zumba. It is believed that the mishap was caused by water turbulence and possible overloading, though investigations are still ongoing.
The Niger State Government, through NSEMA, has warned river users to observe safety guidelines and avoid overcrowding boats, especially during the rainy season when water levels rise unpredictably.
The incident is the latest in a series of boat mishaps that have plagued riverine communities in Niger State, prompting calls for urgent government intervention and improved water transport safety measures.
In November 2024, at least 27 people died when a boat capsized on the Niger River in central Nigeria.
The boat was carrying about 200 passengers from the state of Kogi to a food market in the neighbouring state of Niger when it capsized late on November 29, with more than half reportedly missing, according to Ibrahim Audu, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency.
Rescuers had managed to pull 27 bodies from the river while local divers were still searching for the missing passengers, according to the spokesperson for the Kogi State Emergency Services, Sandra Musa.
The previous month, dozens of people were feared dead after a boat capsized in north-central Nigeria.
The boat was ferrying more than 300 passengers on the River Niger when it overturned on October 3, said Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema) head Abdullahi Baba Arah.
Almost exactly a year earlier, another 29 children from a nearby village also drowned in the same river as they were on a trip to collect firewood for their families.
During massive flooding in the rainy season last December, at least 76 people drowned when their boat went down in a swollen river in southeastern Anambra State.
With poor road infrastructure a frequent problem and kidnapping for ransom a major issue along some highways, river boat travel for transport and trade is common in Nigeria.
The Niger River is West Africa’s main waterway running in a crescent through Guinea to Nigeria’s Niger Delta and is a key trade route for some countries.
Nigeria’s National Inland Waterways Authority has tried to ban night-time sailing on rivers to stop accidents and says overloading ships is a criminal offence, but skippers and crews often ignore the regulations.
Flood kills residents, submerges houses in Adamawa communities
Meanwhile, flood has killed some residents of Yola North and Yola South Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, leaving several houses submerged.
Torrential rain, which started before dawn and continued throughout Sunday morning, wreaked havoc in different communities in the state.
According to reports, the worst-hit areas are Yola Bye Pass, Sabon Pegi, Yolde Pate, and Modire, where houses have been submerged, farmlands destroyed, and roads ruined, preventing human and vehicular movements.
Also multiple deaths are being recorded, with children being the worst affected.
The casualty figure could not be ascertained as of press time, as the search and rescue process was still ongoing.
A resident of the Sabon Pegi area, Furera Adamu, said, “Many lives were lost, especially children. We’re still counting and searching. We never thought this could happen.”
Already, residents of Shagari Low Cost and Sabon Pegi communities have fled their houses as the areas have been totally submerged.
The flood is not receding as many homes are still inhabitable, forcing their occupants to find shelter in the surrounding countryside.
Reports also said electricity supply has been disconnected in worst affected areas.
“We lost everything. The water rushed in so suddenly that we had no time to rescue our things,” a resident of Yola Bye Pass lamented.
The ravaging flood has also swept away vast tracts of farmland, heightening fears of likely food crisis.
Families have been dislocated, and the risk of deadly waterborne disease is increasing as a result of stagnant water and poor sanitation in affected areas.
Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency had not issued an official statement on the development.
But the Adamawa Commissioner of Police, CP Dankombo Moris, has deployed trained marine police and engine boats to render assistance to people in distress.
This was contained in a statement made available to the press by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, on Sunday.
“The Adamawa State Police command in collaboration with personnel of 23 Brigade, Yola mobilized to the affected areas to actively engage with the community and render assistance to the people,” he said.
The police spokesman disclosed that so far, two corpses had been found and deposited at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital
