At least sixteen people are said to have perished in a boat accident on the Kaduna River near Bodo village in Niger State’s Shiroro Local Government Area.
According to reports, sixteen residents from Sayita village were among many others who escaped terrorist strikes in the state’s Munya local government district on Wednesday morning.
When the disaster happened, they were supposed to be traveling in three locally manufactured boats towards Zumba town in Shiroro local government region.
According to eyewitness accounts, over 100 terrorists stormed Sayita village today, and the deceased villagers decided to flee for safety on three wooden boats to Zumba.
The source disclosed that during the journey, one of the three boats carrying about thirty passengers capsized having hit a rock, efforts by the other travellers in the two other boats could only rescue fourteen.
It was further learnt that as the other travellers tried to bury the 14 corpses, they sighted the terrorists coming and abandoned them.
The head of the local divers in Zumba known as Sarkin Jirgi, when contacted told DAILY POST that eight bodies comprising six children and two women have been recovered from the river
Confirming the incident, the Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency NSEMA Ahmed Ibrahim Inga said a search and rescue operation has commenced to rescue victims.