No fewer than 27 people were confirmed dead on Thursday night in Gbajibo community, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, where a boat capsized.

An eyewitness account said the boat capsized due to overloading.
Although he could not confirm the exact number of passengers on board, he disclosed that a strong windstorm also contributed to the incident.
The tragedy occurred barely seven months after a similar one claimed well over 100 lives in the same Gbajibo.

According to residents, the boat was returning with passengers from a market in Niger State.

An eyewitness and survivor, Salisu Danladi, who claimed to have swum to shore, said the tragedy occurred three nights ago while they were returning from Niger State.

“I thank God that I survived, but the truth is that we were too many on the boat. We were desperate to return home because the day was far gone.
“It was on that day that I realised the usefulness of my swimming skills,” Salisu stated.

The Chairman of Kaiama Local Government, Abdullah Danladi, led a government delegation to commiserate with the victims’ families.
He assured that the government would no longer tolerate the almost yearly recurrence of such tragedies.

He also announced plans to set up a committee to enforce the use of life jackets, prohibit night travel, and implement other safety measures.
The Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Muazu Umar, stated that awareness campaigns would be intensified to ensure passengers and boat operators comply with water travel safety standards.

In October last year, no fewer than 60 people, mostly women and children, died in a boat mishap in Gbajibo community, a border town between Kwara and Niger states.

The wooden boat, with a capacity to carry 100 passengers, had about 300 people on board when it overturned.

Two days after the tragedy, President Bola Tinubu, who mourned the victims, directed the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to investigate the spate of boat accidents in Niger and across the country and devise modalities to check the trend.