The chairman of the Sabon Birni Local Government, Alhaji Ayuba Hashimu, said a boat carrying some residents of Zalla Bango community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State has caused the death of several passengers.

Hamisu told journalists in Sokoto on Saturday that the boat mishap occurred while the passengers were fleeing from renewed bandit attacks in the community.

He said the incident occurred on the evening of Thursday, September 18, shortly after a wooden boat carrying fleeing villagers struck the edge of a collapsed culvert along the Goronyo–Sabon Birni road.

“The boat hit the edge of a collapsed culvert, which led to its breaking and eventual sinking. We are doing everything we can to rescue survivors and retrieve the bodies of the deceased,” Hashimu added.

He also said that motorised boats and life jackets recently procured by the Sokoto State Government had been distributed to some flood-prone local councils, including Sabon Birni, just a day before the incident.

The member representing Sabon Birni constituency in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Sa’idu Ibrahim, said six people were killed before the attackers fled.

“I just returned from the village, where I went to sympathise with the grieving families,” Ibrahim said.

Efforts to get a spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were unsuccessful as calls and messages sent their their phones were unanswered.