Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has expressed shock over yesterday’s boat mishap that claimed over 24 lives in communities between Jebba and Kainji dam in Mokwa Local Council  of Niger State.
  
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, described the incident as terrible and undesirable. He stated: “This is quite a shocking and sorrowful situation to the people of the affected communities, and I share in their sorrow. I pray to Allah to grant the deceased Aljannah Firdausi and comfort their families.”
  
While commiserating with the bereaved families, Bago directed Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to do the needful to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
  
He reiterated the importance of life jackets when boarding a boat and for people to desist from overcrowding boats.
NSEMA has recovered 24 corpses and rescued over 30 persons in the boat mishap.
  
Acting Director-General, NSEMA, Garba Salihu, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.  He said: “NSEMA received a report of a boat mishap that occurred between 7.30a.m. and 8.00a.m. within Jebba and Kainji Dam in Gbajibo area of Mokwa .
  
“The agency, in collaboration with the Mokwa Local Council authority and local divers, is conducting a search, rescue and recovery operation at the scene of the incident. So far, 24 bodies have been recovered, while over 30 persons have been rescued as the operation is still ongoing,”
  
Salihu said over 100 persons were reportedly on board the boat when the incident occurred. He added that the victims from Gbajibo, Ekwa and Yankyade communities were going to their farms on the other side of the River Niger (old Gbajibo).