Tragedy struck on Monday in Kano State when a boat mishap occurred at Jobawa village in Garun Mallam Local Government Area, killing 15 teenagers most of whom were girls.
The incident occurred when the boat carrying them to a village to buy cassava capsized in the middle of the river. The girls boarded the boat to cross the river from a suburb called Lanjan to the Jobawa village, to supply cassava, which they sell in the Garin Mallam town.
Community leader of Jobawa village, Mallam Utubatu Yaro, disclosed that the incident happened on Monday evening when a violent rainstorm struck the boat, causing the operator to lose control of the engine which subsequently led the boat to capsize with all the teen girls on board.
“They normally come here to supply cassava and sell it out around Garin Mallam town. They don’t normally stay up to evening time, but unfortunately, because God has destined that the incident will happen, they were here until Magrib (evening prayer) and there was a violent rainstorm. On their departure, the rain began to fall heavily. I believe it was the excessive rain that fell into the boat as well as the storm that overturned the boat. We have been able to find the bodies of nine of them, and we are searching for the bodies of the remaining.”
He also narrated that the boatman reportedly escaped unhurt because he could swim well but could not save any of the girls due to the magnitude of the rainstorm.
When contacted, the acting Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mustapha Abubakar, confirmed the incident, saying according to reports available to the police, 15 persons were involved in the boat mishap but five have been rescued while ten were still missing.
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