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Officials say that around 10 people were saved after an accident in the northwest region of the African country.
The rescuers are looking for more than 40 disappeared people after a capshed boat in the northwest state of the Nigeria de Sokoto, according to the authorities.
The National Nigeria Emergency Agency (NEMA) said on Sunday that its Sokoto operations office had deployed a response team to support rescue efforts following “the tragic boat incident”.
NEMA director general, Zubaida Umar, said that the agency replied after “received information that a boat transmitting more than 50 passengers on the Goronyo market had capsized”.
Nema said in a shared press release on social networks that around 10 people had been saved and that more than 40 other passengers were missing.
The newspaper The Punch of Nigeria, citing a local official, said that the accident may have been caused by an overload, a recurring problem for boats in river communities of the state.
Boat accidents are common in Nigeria, especially during the annual rainy season, from March to October, when rivers and lakes overflow.
At least 16 farmers died in a similar accident in the state of Sokoto in August 2024, when a wooden canoe transporting them through a river to their capsized rice fields.
Last month, at least 13 people died and dozens of others disappeared after a boat transported approximately 100 passengers in the state of Niger, in the north center of Nigeria.
Two days later, six girls drowned after a boat brought them back to the Maison du Travail Chaviré in the middle of the northwest of the Jigawa state.
