From Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
No fewer than fifteen persons have been confirmed dead after a boat accident occurred in Mauludi village in the Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
Chairman of the council, Hon. Aliyu Shagari while speaking with our correspondent said the incident happened on Tuesday evening.
He said the boat, which was conveying 25 people, was on its way to Mauludi from a neighbouring village when the accident occurred.
An eyewitness account that the wooden boat was overloaded with passengers which resulted in losing its balance in the middle of the river.
In recent months, cases of boat accidents have been recurring in Shagari riverine communities.
In a similar incident in may this year at Gildan Magana, 29 children were drowned in the river without a survivor. Boat accidents are prevalent in the coastal communities of Shagari local government areas of the state.
The state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, had in a condolence visit during another boat accident in the local government, promised to provide life jackets that will help prevent drowning in the event of such an accident.