By Winnie Onu, Makurdi
At least 11 people including a pregnant woman and six children,have been feared dead after a boat conveying them home from a burial ceremony capsized on the River Benue in Makurdi Local Government Area of the Benue State on Saturday night.
The victims were said to be returning to Daududawadawa community, an island settlement behind the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) Barracks in Makurdi’s North Bank area, when the ill-fated boat overturned midway into the journey.
Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred between 7pm and 8pm during a heavy downpour accompanied by strong winds that swept across parts of the city.
Commander of a local vigilante group, Operation Shara (Sweep), in North Bank, Nura Umar, said the victims had earlier attended the burial of a woman from their community at Wadata.
According to Umar, the deceased woman had been taken to a private hospital in North Bank on Saturday morning where she later died, prompting relatives and sympathisers from the island community to converge on Wadata for her burial.
“What happened was that we took a sick woman from the community behind NASME to a private hospital in North Bank yesterday morning, where she later died. Her relatives came and joined us for the burial at Wadata.
“After the burial, they boarded a boat to cross back to Daududawadawa community. At about 7pm heavy rain and strong winds started and the boat capsized halfway into the journey.
“There were over 40 passengers aboard the boat, but 11 are feared dead. We have recovered four bodies so far and buried them, while divers are still searching for the remaining victims,” Umar said.
He further disclosed that one of the survivors had a baby strapped to her back but lost the child in the accident.
Spokesperson for Benue Police Command, DSP Udeme Edet, however said she was yet to get any report about the incident.
