The calm water of the River Rima, which has long served as a lifeline for the farming communities of Wamakko Local Government Area in north-western Nigeria, turned treacherous on August 11.
Along the Dundaye Axis, where the river snakes quietly through the heart of Sokoto State, tragedy struck as a boat carrying more than thirty-five souls capsized under the weight of its passengers.
The boat was laden with a cross-section of the community. They were en route to their farms, the lifeblood of their livelihoods, as they had done countless times before. But this journey would be different.
For those aboard, the world turned upside down in a chaotic swirl of water and limbs. Some fought the current with all their strength, while others were pulled under, their cries swallowed by the river.
Amidst the panic, nearly fifteen of the victims somehow made it to shore, clambering onto the banks.
One body has been recovered, a tragic confirmation by the Nigerian Television Authority. The rest, almost half the boat’s passengers, remain missing—presumed trapped beneath the river’s dark surface in a watery grave that offers no solace.
The news reached the Sokoto Operations Office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) swiftly. The head of Operations, Aliyu Shehu Kafidangi, arrived at the scene to assess the scope of the disaster. Joining him was Nasiru Garba, the Special Adviser to the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency, and the Red Cross Society.
The victims’ stories began to emerge—accounts of alleged overloading, a desperate gamble against the odds that ended in catastrophe.
This tragedy on the River Rima is a stark reminder of the fragility of life in these rural enclaves where the line between survival and disaster is often drawn by a single, fateful decision.
Boat Mishaps in Nigeria
Nigerian water, sprawling and capricious, has long been a lifeline for millions.
From the bustling Lagos lagoons to the quiet bends of the Niger River, these waterways are threading through the lives of countless Nigerians.
Boat mishaps, frequent and devastating, are becoming a recurrent nightmare, claiming lives with a regularity that is both tragic and avoidable.
Data from Nigeria Watch, an organisation meticulously tracking lethal violence, revealed a sobering statistic: between June 2006 and May 2015, at least 1,607 lives were lost in 180 boat accidents across the country.
Other data from the International Centre for Investigative Journalism, ICIR, also revealed that about 1,204 lives were lost between January 2018 and October 2023.
This grim tally, though staggering, is only a fraction of the potential carnage if the current rate of accidents continues unchecked, experts say. Behind these figures are also the stories of men, women, and children whose lives are being cut short by the water they rely on.
Experts are unanimous in their assessment: these tragedies are not mere accidents of fate but are largely preventable. A marine engineer, Kayode Johnson, pointed to a litany of human errors and infrastructural failings—rickety boats, chronic overloading, perilous night journeys, and the near-total disregard for safety standards.
In many cases, passengers are being herded onto vessels barely seaworthy, lacking even the most basic life-saving equipment like life jackets.
“The occurrence of one or a combination of such factors as overloading, non-use of lifejackets, adverse weather conditions, human error, sub-standard boats and ferries, mechanical failures like engine breakdowns, inadequate safety measures, absence of navigational aids, and non-availability of search and rescue services, as well as regulatory gaps, among others,” he said.
Due to the mounting toll, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) was established in 2004 to improve and develop the nation’s inland waterways, making them safe for navigation. But for many Nigerians, NIWA’s efforts are seen as too little, too late. Critics are accusing the authority of being reactive rather than proactive, and its initiatives are more about damage control than genuine reform.
Jibril Darda’u, former NIWA’s Head of Press and Public Affairs, countered these accusations with a defense of the agency’s work. He speaks of frequent training and certification of boat drivers, safety awareness campaigns, and the establishment of search and rescue stations in strategic locations.
“NIWA has established nine search and rescue stations in Lagos, Lokoja, Port Harcourt, Yauri, New Bussa among others for timely rescue operations. The authority has standardised its inspection of vessels to ensure standard and safety compliance, including determining the River worthiness of the vessels before registration and permit are given.
“It has also deployed its personnel to various loading terminals to provide pre-loading safety talk to passengers and prevent overloading and night sailing as well as the provision of life jackets to boats,” he said
Yet, the rising tide of accidents seems to be outpacing these measures, leaving families grieving and communities in fear.
Bunmi Olufemi, who claimed she lost about N350,000 of her trade money in a 2022 boat accident in Lagos, pointed at the problem she observed:
“At the front, there was supposed to be one passenger but he (the driver) was carrying three. And he was running,” she told media.
“When the boat hit something on the ground, the boat pierced and water began to enter. After the driver disappeared, we found ourselves on top of the water for about 30 minutes. It was the fishermen that helped us. Because of the life jackets they were seeing our heads.”
Samuel Kolawole, a Professor of transportation and maritime expert, is calling for more than just policy tweaks; he is demanding a fundamental overhaul of the way Nigeria manages its waterways.
He argued that without stricter enforcement of safety regulations, more rigorous training for boat operators, and harsher penalties for negligence, the carnage would continue.
“Where there is regulation, especially in Lagos where we have Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, enforcement is not as rigorous as it is expected to be. The operation of those boats should stop around 6pm or 7pm at most, but you would discover that most of them operate at night. In our transportation system, enforcement is usually our weak side,” he said.
Boating education, once a luxury, must become a necessity, Kolawole advised. Courses on safety regulations, navigation rules, and emergency procedures should be mandatory for all ferry operators. They must also remain vigilant, their eyes scanning the horizon for dangers that lurk in the water’s depths. Distractions—whether they come from the passengers, the lure of a quicker return trip, or the intoxicating allure of speed—must be resisted.