Tuesday saw the recovery of further dead remains following the capsize of a wooden boat on Sunday in the Wamakko local government district of Sokoto state’s River Dundaye.
Ten bodies have already been found two days after the boat tragedy, with the most recent one being that of a female adolescent found in the Wamakko axis of the river, 20 kilometers away.
Reports state that the local community, the Sokoto Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and the Sokoto zonal office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) worked together to rescue 20 accident survivors on the first day of the tragic journey.
Teenagers and a few elderly villagers who were employed to perform physical labor on farms along the riverbanks were on board the boat when it capsized in the middle of the river.
A few meters from the target, it was stated that the skipper of the unfortunate vessel lost control of the vessel due to strong waves, causing it to capsize upside down and scatter its occupants into the swiftly rushing sea.
The 2003 river tragedy that took the life of Hon. Saidu Nahantsi Illela, the former chairman of the Illela Local Government Area and a former Democratic Party of Sokoto East senatorial candidate, is regarded as the deadliest and most serious accident in the past thirty years.
After working a full day at his potato farm, the former senatorial candidate was trying to cross the river when he was cut by a slide and fell back into the river, which is how he died. It took several hours for his body to be found by skilled divers a few meters from his farm.
Along with several prominent members of the APC, former state governor Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako has since expressed his condolences to the Dundaye community for what he called an unfortunate incident. He said that the parents of the teenagers who perished and those who lost loved ones in the tragic boat will never forget the scene.
On the other hand, Wamakko prayed for the souls of the sick boat accident victims to rest.
