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At least 11 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, are feared dead after a boat carrying mourners returning from a burial ceremony capsized on the River Benue in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State. The incident reportedly occurred on Saturday evening as the passengers were travelling back to Daududawadawa, an island community located behind the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering in the North Bank area of Makurdi. Witnesses said the boat overturned during a heavy downpour accompanied by strong winds, throwing dozens of passengers into the river.
According to local sources, the wooden boat was carrying about 40 people when the accident happened between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. The passengers had attended the burial of a woman from their community at Wadata and were heading home when disaster struck midway across the river. A local vigilante commander, Nura Umar, confirmed that the victims were relatives and sympathisers who had participated in the funeral rites before embarking on the journey back to the island settlement.
Rescue efforts were still ongoing as of Sunday, with local divers, community volunteers, and emergency responders searching the river for missing passengers. While some occupants were reportedly rescued, fears remain high that the death toll could increase as more bodies are recovered. Residents described scenes of anguish along the riverbank as families desperately searched for loved ones who failed to return home after the accident.
The latest tragedy adds to a growing number of fatal boat accidents recorded across Nigeria’s inland waterways in recent years. Safety experts have repeatedly attributed many of these incidents to overloading, poor weather conditions, inadequate safety equipment, and weak enforcement of maritime regulations. The Benue incident has once again renewed calls for stricter safety measures, including mandatory life jackets and stronger monitoring of passenger boats operating on the country’s rivers.
