A wedding ceremony ended in grief on Sunday when an overcrowded passenger boat overturned at dusk, killing 14 people participating in the ceremony in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State in North-west Nigeria.
The deceased included 12 sisters of the bride.
The tragedy occurred in Gumbi village after the sisters and other community members accompanied the bride to her husband's home in Gwarzo village across the river in the Ngaski Local Government Area.
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The Chairperson of Yauri Local Government, Abubakar Shuaibu, said the group was returning home when their boat capsized.
"The celebrants were on their way back home when the boat capsized, and over 100 people were thrown into the water. 14 people, consisting of 13 females and a child, died. All the deceased persons have been buried according to Islamic rites," he prayed.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES' correspondent on Tuesday, an elderly woman, who identified herself simply as Danhundeji, said: "The incident was on Sunday, 12 sisters of the bride who were also brides-to-be died in the mishap."
She added that the boat, locally called "Lenti", usually conveyed passengers and goods, including vehicles, across the river. "It was overloaded during the journey, (on their way back) which led the boat to capsize and resulted in deaths while others drowned in the river."
Governor Nasir Idris has sent his condolences to the victims' families and community leaders, offering words of consolation at the funeral for the dead.
In a message delivered by the local government chairperson at the funeral on Monday, the governor urged the bereaved to accept the outcome as God's will and to find comfort in faith.
Boat accidents
Boat accidents have killed many in the riverine areas of Kebbi State where poor road infrastructure forces local people to travel by river.
Most of the boats are in poor states and the lack of regulations or enforcement of rules on the waterways means they are always overcrowded during trips, with accidents always claiming many lives.
A report by VOA Africa on May 10, 2023 recorded an episode when an overloaded boat in the area capsized with heavy loss of life.
"Fifteen bodies, 13 girls and two boys, were recovered by local rescue teams and buried in the village," the official who supervised that rescue said, as divers worked the river searching for more children.
That earlier disaster unfolded when youths crossed the swollen channel of the Shagari river from Dundeji village in Sokoto State to collect firewood.
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"We woke up to a tragedy yesterday morning, where a boat carrying children capsized mid-river," Aliyu Abubakar, the local administrator of Shagari district, told AFP, which also reported the accident.
Authorities have tried to curb the carnage. Nigeria's waterways authority banned night-time navigation and criminalised overloading, but enforcement is sporadic and skippers often flout rules.
River travel and trade remain essential in many communities where all-weather roads are absent and the Niger River is a lifeline for goods and people.
Local leaders have called for safety audits, stricter enforcement of vessel capacity limits, and community awareness campaigns to reduce future losses.
As bodies were lowered into the earth and prayers said, the immediate burden fell on kin and neighbours -- but the question of systemic reform remains.
