A joyous wedding journey turned to heartbreak in Kebbi State on Monday as a crowded boat carrying celebrants capsized on the river at Gumbi village in Yauri Local Government Area, claiming the lives of fourteen people, including thirteen women and a child.
The victims had earlier accompanied a bride to her husband’s home in Gwarzo village of neighbouring Ngaski LGA and were returning to their community when the overloaded vessel overturned, plunging more than one hundred passengers into the water. Rescue efforts were unable to save fourteen of those on board.
Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris attended the funeral prayers for the deceased and offered condolences to their families, the Yauri emirate, and the wider community. Speaking through the Chairman of Yauri Local Government, Abubakar Shu’aibu, he urged mourners to accept the tragedy as the will of God and prayed for divine mercy upon the departed.
“All that happens is by the knowledge of our Creator,” the governor said in his message. “God does as He wills, when He wills, and none may question His decree. May He forgive their shortcomings and grant them Jannatul Firdaus.”
The victims have since been laid to rest in accordance with Islamic rites, as grief-stricken communities across Yauri and Ngaski continue to mourn lives lost on what should have been a day of celebration.