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TRAGEDY occurred on Wednesday, as 17 persons, mostly children and women, were reportedly drowned while three others were still missing, following a canoe accident on River Kaduna in Kwara State.
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, a relation of one of the victims who sought for anonymity in an interview said the incident occurred around 11.00 a.m. on that fateful day.
The canoe, which was loaded with about 50 passengers, was coming from Patigi in Kwara State to Nupeko village, Niger State.
According to the source, the majority of the passengers on board were returning from a wedding ceremony in the neighbouring village.
He noted that about 30 persons in the ill-fated canoe were rescued and had since re-united with their families.
The source added that seven dead bodies of children and two women had since been recovered, adding that search was still ongoing in the hope of recovering more bodies.
Nigerian Tribune further gathered that one of the deceased, identified as Abdullahi, a civil servant with the Niger State government, was said to be on official assignment.
The immediate cause of the mishap has not been officially ascertained but it was gathered that the canoe capsized shortly after hitting a log of wood in the river.
Confirming the incident when contacted by the Nigerian Tribune on Thursday, the Commissioner of Police, Niger State police command, Mrs Desire Diseye Nsirim, stated that the incident did not occur within the jurisdiction of the state police command, but in Kwara State and that all the recovered dead bodies were taken there.
But the Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State police command, DSP Olufemi Fabode, said that the command was not aware of the incident.
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