Slug-Boat mishap:29 confirmed dead in Niger state; 50 persons rescued

Minna- Twenty nine lives have been confirmed dead in a boat mishap that occured in Niger state.
This is coming within five weeks when a similar incident occured.
The incident according to report occured in Gausawa in Malale ward of Borgu local government area of the state on tuesday.
Our Correspondent gathered that the boat was conveying 90 passengers and ran into a tree stump resulting in its capsize.
Immediately the incident happened, local divers and other helpers went into immediate rescue operation and were able to rescue fifty,(50) passengers and recovered 29 corpses from the river.
Two other passengers are said to be missing.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency NSEMA Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah when contacted confirmed the story.
Arah said,”the boat took off from Tungan Sule in Shagunun ward of the local government and was heading to Dugga village.
“The incident happened on Tuesday, 2nd September 2025 at about 11:30 am and the cause was attributed to overloading and collision with a tree stump.
“Search and rescue operations are still in progress for possible recovery of the missing persons,” he declared.
It would be recalled that On July 27th this year a boat carrying 39 passengers from Guni to the weekly Zumba market across the river Kaduna capsized during which 13 passengers were declared dead and 26 others rescued.
A breakdown in the previous accident showed that 8 of those that died were women, 3 were men while 2 were children.
Meanwhile, rescue operation was still on by local divers in the area.
END.