Rescue operations are underway in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto State after a boat carrying more than 50 passengers capsized, leaving over 40 people missing and sparking fresh concerns over the country’s recurring waterway tragedies.
The incident occurred on Sunday as the boat ferried traders and residents across the Shagari River to Goronyo Market. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), only about 10 passengers were rescued, with scores still unaccounted for.
Zubaida Umar, NEMA’s director general, confirmed that emergency teams had been dispatched from the Sokoto operations office to join local responders in search-and-rescue efforts. “It was a tragic mishap. Our teams are working with community volunteers and other agencies to ensure as many lives as possible are saved,” Umar said in a statement.
Preliminary reports suggest overloading may have been the primary cause of the disaster, a problem long associated with water transport in Sokoto’s riverine communities. Many locals rely on wooden canoes and poorly maintained boats to access markets, farms, and nearby villages, often with little to no adherence to safety measures.
Sadly, such tragedies have become a grim routine in Nigeria, especially during the rainy season between March and October, when rivers and lakes swell and currents grow stronger. Last August, at least 16 farmers died in a similar incident in Sokoto after a wooden canoe overturned en route to their rice fields. Just weeks ago, 13 lives were lost in Niger State when a boat carrying around 100 passengers capsized, with dozens more reported missing. Only two days later, six girls drowned in Jigawa State when their boat sank midstream on their way home from farm work.
Maritime experts say lax regulation, lack of enforcement, poor vessel maintenance, and the absence of life jackets continue to fuel preventable deaths on Nigeria’s inland waterways. For rural dwellers, however, boats remain the only practical means of transport, and warnings about overloading often go unheeded.
As families anxiously await news of their loved ones in Sokoto, pressure is once again mounting on authorities to tighten safety rules and invest in safer transport alternatives. For now, rescue workers continue combing the waters, hoping to prevent yet another avoidable disaster from claiming more lives.
