Nigeria: 16 people died in Niger Boat Accident

On Wednesday, at least 16 people, including women and children, died in a boat accident on the River Shiroro while attempting to flee gunman attacks on their neighborhood.

According to reports, gunmen numbering in the hundreds raided the Shayita hamlet in Munya Local Government Area and ravaged the whole town, snatching food and other belongings.

According to a community source, the victims had received information of an impending attack and had began to remove their things in order to migrate.

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According to our source, 10 boats set off from Shayita in Munya Local Government Area, bound for Zumba in Shiroro Local Government Area, when one of the boats overturned halfway through the voyage, killing 16 persons.

When the boat capsized, it was carrying roughly 60 people, primarily women and children with their belongings, who were attempting to cross across to the nearby Zumba village.

While some of the victims were retrieved, many more remain unaccounted for, raising the likelihood that the death toll might be higher than the 16 bodies discovered by local divers.

The rescue mission was reportedly abruptly halted by locals when gunmen closed in on the individuals, compelling them to not only halt the operation, but also dump the 16 dead discovered earlier along the riverbank and flee to safety.

At the time of publication, neither the government nor the state police command had issued a statement.

Gunmen attacked roughly 15 settlements in three local government regions, Shiroro, Munya, and Paikoro, murdering an unknown number of people and kidnapping over 30 others, according to reports.

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People’s animals and other belongings were taken, and hundreds of people were forced to flee their houses.