About twenty residents of Guni and Kurgbaku communities of Munya Local Government Area of Niger state have drowned in the Guni-Zumba river while fleeing from gun-wielding assailants.
The incident occurred Wednesday morning when bandits stormed the two communities at the same time, forcing the residents to scarper to safety.
The victims, some of whom were children were crossing the river to Zumba and Gwada IDP camps through the boat.
A resident said the boat was overloaded, forcing it to overturn in the middle of the water.
“Bandits invaded our communities this morning, and in an attempt to flee, some people drowned in Guni-Zumba river. Due to overloading, the boat capsized in the middle of the water. For now, we don’t know the number of casualties because we have not been able to rescue anybody but I can tell you that over 20 people, including women and children, were involved.”
Another native of the community, said, “Bandits attacked Guni community in Munya LGA of Niger State, the villagers trying to escape but their boat capsized.”
There is no official statement from the Niger State government or the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun,yet.
Apart from being home to some of Nigeria’s critical power infrastructure, some of the nation’s strategic dams are in Niger State. In the last 8 years, there has been over eight boat accidents in the state with communities left to mourn the loss of their loved ones.