At least 53 traders have lost their lives in a boat mishap, which occurred in Bagudo Local Government area of Kebbi State.
Chairman of Bagudo Local Government, Muhammad Zagga, confirmed this on Thursday.
He said the traders were on their way to the market when the incident happened.
“Majority of the traders are from Gaya village in Niger Republic,” he said. “They were going to a market in Lolo when their boat capsized.”
Zagga said out of some 100 passengers on board the boat, 47 were rescued while others could not yet be accounted for.
He said authorities in Niger Republic had deployed 500 divers to search for the missing people.
Acting Director-General of Kebbi State Kebbi Emergency Management Agency, Abbas Rabi’u, described the incident as unfortunate and disastrous.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.