and several others wounded when a boat
capsized yesterday at Ebe village in Lokoja
Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The over 100 passengers in the boat were
said to be coming to the Lokoja five-day mar
ket when the incident occurred.
According to eyewitness account, the boat
sank in the River Niger due to turbulence oc
casioned by alleged clash between a security
patrol team and a boat allegedly conveying oil
bunkers.
The source said the patrol team was chasing
a boat, suspected to be conveying drums of
crude oil, which was sighted
on the River
Niger at about midnight on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the incident was due to
the diversion by the passenger boat from the
original channel in the River Niger to River
Burara due to the poor dredging carried out
in the River Niger.
The passengers were said to be coming to
Lokoja market from Ebe village in Kuba-
North community in Lokoja Local
Government Area of the state and were to
disembark in Jamata village where they were
to pick a bus to the market.
Sources told Daily Sun that those who
sustained injuries were receiving treatment
at a private hospital in Lokoja
Confirming the incident, General Manager of
National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)
in charge of Corporate Services, Tayo Fadile,
said they were yet to get comprehensive
report of the incident. He confirmed that the
boat capsized at about 1.00 a.m. on Tuesday,
but declined to give the number of casualties.
Rip
ReplyDelete