On Tuesday, May 9, a tragic accident occurred on the Shagari River in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto state, leaving 15 children dead and several others rescued. The children were on their way to collect firewood when their overloaded boat capsized, according to Shagari district political administrator Aliyu Abubakar.

Abubakar reported that the boat, carrying the children, capsized in the middle of the river. Local rescue teams were able to recover 15 bodies, including 13 girls and two boys, who were later buried in the village. Divers rescued 21 of the 36 passengers on board.

Boat accidents in Nigeria are a common occurrence, often resulting from factors such as overloaded boats, inadequate vessel maintenance, heavy flooding during the rainy season, and a lack of safety regulations.

This incident is not the first of its kind in the area. In April of the previous year, a similar accident on the same river claimed the lives of 29 people, including five children, from the neighboring Gidan Magana village in Sokoto, who were also collecting firewood.

In October 2022, at least 76 people died when their boat capsized amid significant flooding during the rainy season in southeast Anambra State. In May 2021, one of Nigeria’s most catastrophic river disasters occurred when a boat carrying passengers to the market broke apart, leaving over 150 people missing and only 20 rescued.

Nigeria’s waterways authority has attempted to mitigate such incidents by banning night-time sailing on rivers and making overloading vessels a criminal offense. However, operators frequently disregard these rules.