Raphael Johnson
A sad report has emerged that 37 traders perished in a boat mishap which occurred on Thursday in the Gbajibo-Mudi community in Kwara State. This comes less than seven months after a boat accident claimed over 200 lives in Gbajibo in Kaiama Local Government Area of of the state,
The traders in the latest mishap, according to sources, came to the weekly market and were returning home in Niger State in the evening on the fateful day when the accident occurred.
The sources said that the boat which was about 100 passengers capacity was overloaded while the accident was fueled by the overflowing river.
The Chairman of Kaiama Local Government, Abubakar Abdullahi, and the Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Muazu Omar, sympathised with the community.
A former chairman of the local government, Mahmoud Gbajibo, confirmed the incident to Punch, said that 37 bodies were recovered from the river by the rescue team of the community.
He said, “The boat accident occurred at about 6pm on Thursday. The traders closed from the market in Gbajigbo Mudi and were returning to their various communities in Niger State when the tragic incident occurred.
“37 corpses were recovered from the river while many others were rescued.
“The cause of the accident can be attributed to overloading of the boat while the water volume also contributed to it.
“Right now, the chairman of the local government and the Emir of Kaiama are in Gbajigbo Mudi community to sympathise with the people.”
Efforts to get the Kwara State Police Command’s confirmation of the incident on Saturday proved abortive as the PPRO, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi’s telephone was said to be offline while the state Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, did not respond to calls and messages.
Also the call made to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye’s phone was not picked on Saturday while the WhatsApp message sent to him since Saturday was yet to be replied as of the time of filing this report.