13 wedding guests drown after boat capsizes in Nigeria

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Men carry the body of a man out of the water in Ngaski, Nigeria, on May 27, 2021 after an overloaded boat sank in the Niger River on May 26, 2021. A week later, 13 people died in another boat accident in Nigeria’s Sokoto state. AFP

KANO, Nigeria — Thirteen people died in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto state when a boat ferrying wedding guests capsized, officials said, a week after 150 people went missing in another boat accident.

The boat was conveying 18 people returning from a wedding in Shagari district when it overturned on Friday.

“Thirteen people traveling from Dorowa to Ginga village died in the boat mishap,” Sokoto state government spokesman Muhammad Bello said.

The passengers were all members of the same family heading home after attending the wedding ceremony, local lawmaker Maidawa Kajiji said.

“It was a small boat loaded with 18 passengers but only five survived and were rescued,” Kajiji said.

Overcrowding, weather and lack of maintenance contribute to frequent river boat tragedies on Nigerian waterways.

Scores of traders drowned when their overloaded boat split and sank on the Niger River in neighboring Kebbi state last week.

The boat was ferrying 180 passengers but only 20 survived. Rescuers recovered 96 bodies after days of searching before the operation was called off.

The National Inland Waterways Authority has banned night-time sailing on the rivers to stop accidents and says overloading ships is a criminal offense, but skippers and crews often ignore the regulations.