Three children among ’12 killed’ as boat capsizes in Taraba

Bodies of three children have been recovered after a boat carrying passengers from the Mayo-Renewo market to the Karim Lamido area of Taraba capsized on Saturday.

Abdullahi Usman, police spokesperson in the state, who confirmed the incident to TheCable on Sunday, said the actual number of passengers on the boat was yet to be ascertained.

“Yes, it has been confirmed. There was a boat mishap. So far, the number of passengers in that boat is not ascertained because they are people coming from the Mayo-Renewo market heading to Karim Lamido,” he said.

“The boat encountered a mishap. So for now, nobody knows the number of passengers but as of this morning up till this time, three corpses were recovered and they were all children.”

However, in a post on Sunday evening, Kefas Agbu, governor of Taraba, said 12 people died in the incident and commiserated with the families of the victims.

“It’s over 24 hours after a Boat mishap that has claimed 12 lives in Taraba – and I am extremely unhappy. I commend the ongoing ‘search and rescue operations’ for many still missing,” Agbu wrote on X.

“Tarabans, it’s a moment of darkness, for us as a People. I mourn with Families of the departed and pray we don’t witness such an ugly accident, again.”

Since the beginning of the year, many citizens have lost their lives in boat mishaps recorded in various parts of the country, including Kwara, Kebbi, Adamawa, and Niger states.

Nigeria’s water transportation system has been found to lack proper safety equipment and weak regulatory standards which put the lives of residents living in coastal communities at risk.