Dozens of pipo, mostly children dead afta boat capsize for Sokoto state

Di town of Gorau for Sokoto state, northwestern Nigeria dey mourn as at least 55 pipo, mostly children die afta one boat wey carry passengers capsize for di area.

Sokoto State Police Command tok-tok pesin Ahmad Rufai wey confam di incident to BBC News Pidgin, tok say preliminary investigation show say "77 pipo bin dey onboard bifor di accident occur, dem don recover 46 bodies, 16 pipo survive and 15 odas still dey miss."

E say search and rescue operations dey go on and security agencies and emergency services dey go di site of di incident.

One eyewitness Sharhabilu Yahuza Kiliya wey follow BBC News Pidgin tok say most of di pipo wey lose dia lives na na small-small children, wey dem carry go farm to help wit di rice harvest.

"Di accident happun around 8am on Thursday, and di pipo wey die dey on dia way go dia farms to harvest rice. Some oda pipo wey dey inside di boat dey try cross to sell dia goods to farmers during di harvest," Kiliya tok.

Among di 55 bodies wey dem recover, Kiliya say one woman wey carry baby for her back dey among dem, while dem also recover di bodi of one pregnant woman.

E add say some families dey worst hit: “E dey very painful, plus di pipo of Gorau town dey distressed bicos some families don lose more dan four children.”

Also, one lawmaker for di state Nasiru Adamu tell Reuters News say most of di pipo wey bin dey onboard dey between 10 and 15 years old.

So far, Kiliya say dem don rescue seven pipo wey include di community head.

“By around 4pm today, we don rescue seven pipo and bury 46 bodies.”

E say dem don suspend di remaining rescue operation till tomorrow bicos of di insecurity wey dey affect Goronyo local govment area.

Meanwhile, when BBC contact di National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) for Sokoto state through dia tok-tok pesin for di state, Dahiru Kure, e say dem still dey gada information about how di incident happun and di number of pipo wey lose dia lives.

However, Nema tok-tok pesin Ezekiel Manzo tell BBC say di area wey di incident take happun na remote and difficult to reach area, but di team don move go di remote location"

Authorities also neva fit tok why di boat capsize or di river wia e take happun.

Boat accidents dey common for Nigeria, as most of di boats dey often dey overcrowded, poor maintenance and weak enforcement of safety rules wey dem often dey blame for deaths on di kontri waterways.

For January, at least 25 pipo die as one boat wey dey leak capsize for Yobe ​state, northeast Nigeria.

And for December 2024, dem recover 54 bodies from di River Niger afta one boat wey carry more dan 200 passengers capsize.

Authorities don recommend measures wey include providing safer boats and life jackets, dredging waterways, deploying water guards at jetties and terminals, and to ensure say boat operators dey properly trained and licensed.

But operators no dey fully implement most these measures or enforce am.

For millions of Nigerians, particularly for rural communities, rivers na important means of transport. Many villages dey located near waterways, while poor roads plus lack of bridges make to travel by land difficult.

Dem dey often use wooden boats to transport pipo and goods go markets and neighbouring communities.