Yobe Boat Mishap: Death Toll Rise to 29 as FG Pushes Ban on Wooden Boats

The number of fatalities from Saturday’s boat mishap in Nguru Local Government Area of Yobe State has risen to 29, up from the earlier figure of 25 announced by the state government.

The updated casualty figure was confirmed on Monday in Damaturu by the Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), Dr Mohammad Goje. He disclosed that four additional bodies were recovered from the river, while search and rescue efforts remain ongoing, as between eight and ten passengers are still unaccounted for.

According to Goje, 13 survivors who sustained injuries in the incident have received medical treatment and have since been discharged from a local hospital.

Preliminary findings, he said, point to overloading and structural deficiencies in the boat as the primary causes of the accident. In response, Governor Mai Mala Buni has directed YOSEMA to work closely with relevant federal agencies to strengthen safety measures for water transportation across the state.

Goje explained that such collaboration would enable stricter regulation of water transport activities, including the enforcement of mandatory use of life jackets by all passengers.

“Once this framework is in place, no one should be allowed to board a canoe without a life jacket. This must become a standard practice,” he said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the ill-fated boat departed from Adiyani in neighbouring Jigawa State before capsizing along the Yobe River at Garbi town at about 7:48 p.m. on Saturday.

The vessel was reportedly carrying more than 50 passengers, most of them farmers and traders, when the accident occurred. Garbi town is located over 230 kilometres from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.