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By Mohammed Yabagi.
The people of Ebbe, a riverine area in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State are still counting their losses as several lives and goods worth hundreds of thousands of naira were feared lost following a boat mishap, Friday.
The incident, which occurs in the early hours of the day, took place at Miza when boat that was on its way to the popular Friday Market in Katcha, a border town separating Kogi and Niger States, had a head-on collision with an oncoming one.
Both boats, our reporter gathered, were loaded with mostly women and Children. The women were said to be taking smoked fish from surrounding villages and communities to the market, a trade they have been known for.
An eyewitness who was among passengers inside the boat, Muhammadu Ndalugi, told our reporter that the incident occurred due poor visibility at the time of their voyage.
He said the drivers, despite the obvious sounds of the engines, did not really see one another clearly, hence the collision.
A relative to one of the victims, Ayishetu Ahmadu, could not control her tears as she narrated the loss of her aunt, whom she said, was on the boat from Ebbe.
She wondered aloud, why the incident had to happen now, and at the end, said it was the will of Allah. “My aunt had been used to going to Katcha Market and she was famous for her jovial nature, but today, Allah has decreed that she had to ‘go’ and there is nothing anyone can do about it,” she lamented amidst tears.
Local divers were at the scene of the incident trying to recover more bodies at the time of filing this report as several relatives had their hearts in their mouths awaiting the fate of their loved ones on that journey.
Others who had their relations confirmed drowned, said they only wanted to get the bodies in order to give them proper burials.
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