From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Like every other day, many artisanal miners and food vendors from Warrah town in Ngaski Local Government Area (LGA) of Kebbi State set for their daily routines on May 26 to a village called Lokon-Minna in Niger State.
They were optimistic that fortune would smile on them at the end of the day’s job and trading. But, unknown to them, they would never return to their loved ones.
In one fell swoop, over 100 indigenes of the community were swallowed by the hungry and angry river as the boat capsized. Wailings pervaded the community as the bodies were recovered one after the other.
Though it is over two months since the tragedy struck, the people of the community, especially the family members of the deceased, are yet to come to terms with the sad news. They are still mourning.
Travelling through the River Niger that links the town to Niger State with local canoes was part and parcel of their lives. But they were not aware that the boat conveying them back with estimated number of 150 passengers would capsize and drown them in the river.
It was gathered that they were about to reach the bank of the river when the mishap occurred and the boat was cut into two. The local boat, built of planks, was said to be making a U-turn at a particular point on the river before it capsized.
Rescue teams from the locality and Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) swung into action, but they only managed to rescue 22 passengers, while the fate of 120 other passengers hung in the air.
For almost one week, bodies of drowned travellers, including children were being picked one by one from different spots along the bank of the River Niger. At the last count, out of the 97 corpses recovered, 59 were said to be from Warrah town, while seven were identified to be indigenes of Zamfara. They were all buried by the river bank, while the wreckage of the boat was recovered and brought back to the bank.
While Warrah town in Yauri Emirate was thrown into mourning, the first agency to visit the scene was the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), led by the managing director, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, along with other delegates, to commiserate with the people of Warrah.
Reeling out actions to be taken to prevent recurrence, Yelwa, said: “This delegation was based on the directives of the chairman of HYPPADEC governing council, Joseph Terfa Ityav, to commiserate with the people affected by the incident. The chairman described it as devastating and advocated concerted efforts to avert future occurrence. The governing council and the management were really touched by the catastrophe. We are going to convene a stakeholders’ consultative meeting to explore possible safety and control measures on maritime transportation in the area, as part of our timely response to address human factors that might be contributing to the menace of boat mishap.”
He disclosed that the commission had secured the approval of the governing council to cut and evacuate tree trunks in some portions of River Niger, while consultations were ongoing with NIWA to crush big stones causing accidents on the waterways.
“All these are parts of the commission’s proactive measures to address incessant boat and canoe accidents on River Niger,” he said.
Responding on behalf of the people, the chairman of Ngaski LGA, Alhaji Abdullahi Buhari Warrah, thanked the commission for its timely visit to commiserate with the people of the town. The district head of Maginga, Alhaji Abdulmalik Nuhu, also thanked HYPPADEC for the timely visit and support to the victims and expressed appreciation on the activities the commission intends to undertake to contain the menace. He urged relevant authorities to ensure enforcement of safety guidelines on maritime transportation.
Many state governors, members of the National Assembly, the Senate, House of Representatives, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and others also paid unscheduled visits to the scene and donated money to the victims’ families.
The state governors, under Nigerian Governors’ Forum, donated N50 million, Sokoto State government donated N40 million, Jigawa State government donated N25 million, Zamfara State donated N30 million, while the Senate donated N10 million.
Malami, a senior advocate of Nigerian, who paid a condolence visit to the Niger State governor, disclosed that “the Federal Government has directed multi-faceted inter-agency collaboration to advance safety measure approaches to bring to an end recurrence of boat mishap in the country.”
“On behalf of the Federal Government and, indeed, President Muhammadu Buhari, let me express deep and sincere sympathy of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the people of Warra, Ngaski Local Government and Kebbi State government over this unfortunate incident,” he said.
Malami, is who was visibly shocked and could not hold back tears when he visited the scene of the mishap as more corpses were being evacuated, said the Federal Government would work with the Kebbi government to bring about institutional arrangements to eliminate a repeat of the incident. He added that there was urgent need for mutual collaboration between the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), NIWA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and HYPPADEC to address the issue.
Touched by the incident, the leadership of the Senate, led by Senator Muhammed Adamu Aliero from Kebbi Centre senatorial district, also paid a condolence visit to Warrah community, the state government and the Emir of Yauri. Aliero was accompanied by the Senate Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Senate Leader, Dr. Abdullahi Yahyah, Deputy Chief Whip and others.
Speaking on behalf of Senate President Lawan, Aliero said: “The Senate is deeply concerned by the unfortunate incident, and it will ensure that measures are taken by the NIWA by taking away trunks and bursting rocks that usually cause the perennial accidents.
“We have lost so many lives from 2003 to date, and anytime the water recedes from the River Niger, we will not have this kind of accident. If these measures are taken, in addition to the one to be taken by HYPPADEC, we will drastically reduce the accidents and provide succour to the people living along riverine areas,” he said.
On his part, Senator Kalu, who delivered the resolution of the Senate on the incident, explained that the Senate Leader, Dr. Abdullahi Yahyah, moved a motion over the incident and was seconded by Aliero.
According to him: “The Senate, in its wisdom, decided to ask NIWA to make sure that, in our next budget, they should provide money to ensure it removes those tree trunks and rocky areas in the river. The Senate also plans to make special provision of funds to look around that area in terms of what they will be working with the state government in line with the policy of NIWA and other relief agencies. Senate, in its resolution, also asked NEMA to go to the area quickly to see how it can help the people that have survived and reposition them.
“And Senate also asked that we should be able to make new laws that will protect our waterways and ensure that such incidents do not recur. The Senate also asked in the resolution that, very soon, new area that would improve the waterways should be put in place to take care of the riverine areas.”
While condoling with the governor and people of the state, Senator Kalu said: “We are really touched over what happened. This is one motion that brought a lot of sympathy, a lot of crying at the floor of the Senate and I can see many of our senators, not only from Kebbi, but across the country.
“The Senate President told us to come here immediately. First, to condole with the governor and the people of the state, the Emir of Yauri Emirate, as well as the people of Warrah, where this incident happened. So, on behalf of our Senate President, on whose endorsement we are here today and the three senators from Kebbi, we want to genuinely ask you to accept our condolences. May the souls of the deceased rest in perfect peace.”
The governor of Kebbi State, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, who has been receiving various delegates, from the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, individual governors, House of Representatives teams and other personalities across the country, also said that he had received a phone call from President Muhammadu Buhari who condoled with him over the incident.
Bagudu, who betrayed emotion while he received the Senate team, said 97 dead bodies were already recovered. He appreciated the condolence visit, saying “The exact number of the passengers in the boat was not known. Some of the survivors said that, the ill-fated boat was carrying over 150 passengers, which started its journey from Lokon-Minna in Niger to Warrah.”
While commiserating with the Kebbi State government, chairman of the NGF, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti State, described the incident as unfortunate, and said, “Of course, we are not God, and Almighty God knows best why things like this happen. Mere mortals like us will ask ourselves, why do bad things happen to good people? But then God Almighty has the insight, foresight, the knowledge, and He has the wisdom and He knows why certain things happen, which may not be clear to us mere mortals.
“On behalf of all of us, your brother governors from 35 states, we pray that God, in His infinite wisdom, will grant the departed souls Aljanah Firdausi and give those they left behind the fortitude to bear the loss. We know this is a national tragedy and those that are bereaved will definitely have the fallouts to deal with. That is why we decided to donate this N50 million for the victims’ families.
“And we also felt that, as governors, it is a matter that we must draw lessons from. One, that emergency responses must be strengthened, not only in the state, but at the national level. We must ensure that these boats are not overcrowded when they are travelling across communities they are plying.”
However, while briefing newsmen on updates of the incident, Alhaji Sani Dododo of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) disclosed that “20 people were rescued and reunited with their families.”
He explained that all the donations received by the state government would be disbursed towards mitigating the pain suffered by the families of the victims.