Iran Press/ Africa: According to the report, women and children were among the victims crossing the river while overloaded in their canoes.
On Wednesday morning, the executive governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umar Fintiri, went to the palace of Gurin District head, where many people gathered to mourn the death of more than 50 people in the accident.
In an interaction with newsmen, Governor Ahmad Fintiri said, "We have just directed our agencies to ensure that they supply life-vest for those who are doing canoe business and to also warn our citizens that they shouldn't overload when crossings in these canoes."
"For those who lost their lives, we have come to condole them and to see it for ourselves. It is actually bad. We pray that God grant them external rest, and their families fortitude to bear these lost," he said while talking about safety measures and services to the people for using the canoes.
The governor said: "We will support the district head of Gurin and all other places that are into farming particularly in the river ring areas to ensure we avoid such occurrences in the future."
In an exclusive interview with Iran Press on the sad incident, the Divisional Secretary of Red Cross in Adamawa State, Suzanna Elazer Yaga, said, "Today (Wednesday ) this morning we confirmed that there is, 12 alive, 13 missing and two dead".
But according to an eyewitness, Haruna Ibrahim, who talked in an exclusive interview with Iran Press, who also lost his son in the accident, over 50 people died in the boat mishap.
"I lost my child, Yusufa. He went out but did not come back. He was drowned in water. I am mourning. I could not eat since yesterday, I only drank water. There were over 50 people in the canoe and they are all dead. The authorities are not telling the truth. They said few people died, but I swear by Allah, the number reached 50," said Mr. Haruna Ibrahim, who talked while in agony.
Iran Press noticed that there were no professionals in the rescue work that was going on. As of the time of this report, there are deaths of more than 100 people who lost their lives in a series of boat mishaps in water in different parts of Nigeria in less than a week.
On Saturday, 15 people died after their boat capsized in water in Yola, Adamawa State. In the Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, at least 30 people lost their lives in the middle of the river when their boat capsized, most of them children and women. Also, in Njuwa Lake in Yola South Local Government, 23 people were killed in the same accident on Friday.
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