19 I left my daughter to die in order to survive – Boat mishap victim
Nine persons died recently in Loko area of Nasarawa State when a boat carrying petty traders capsized during a night journey in the River Benue. Aishatu Isa is a mother of three and a survivor of the boat accident in which she lost her 9-month-old daughter.
She said before the accident one of the crew members who was using a torchlight had asked his colleague to change the direction of the boat because he could sense danger ahead. “There were more than 50 passengers in the boat with our loads. The accident happened around 9.30pm,” she said.
“The paddler did not heed the advice of his colleague and before you knew it, we just hit a tree. I saw men dropping into the river. I took up my daughter around my shoulder and started reciting ‘Inna lillahi ya Innailaiyirajiun’ meaning we are from God and to Him we are going back.
“The boat started shaking vigorously and after a while, it capsized. I raised my daughter up with one hand and started swimming in darkness. I tried my best to swim with my daughter but failed because I drank a lot of water. I still remember how I released my daughter into the river because I was tired. I lost the strength to swim but when a wreckage of the boat floated along my path, I held tightly to it,” Aishatu said.
She said she didn’t know how she was rescued and when she regained consciousness, she realized she was in the hospital, throwing up water from her nose and mouth. “I feel bad but Almighty God has destined it to happen, it was very sad losing my daughter. It was a terrible experience, I will forever live to remember that horrible incident, more so losing my lovely daughter, may Allah have mercy on her,” she said.
Aliyu Adamu Awaisu, the ‘sarkin kwata’ senior traditional head in charge of waterways activities, who also monitors movement of boats, canoes and the security of waterways within Loko territory, led the rescue operations after the accident.
Awaisu said the accident was caused by a tree deep rooted in the water. He said: “Before now there used to be a sign, a red flag indicating danger, usually fixed on the tree during the dry season so that whoever comes around can dodge the tree.”
He said it was difficult to remove the tree because it is deep rooted inside the river. “We intend to prevent future accidents by putting a bigger flag and secondly we want to hold a meeting with the traders to jointly agree to ban night journeys.”
Awaisu told that Udeni market holds once in every four days and market transactions are at its peak between 4 and 9pm. Traders come from far and near and the market has become a source of livelihood for many families in Loko town, as well as other towns across the country.
“We plan to sign an agreement that traders transacting business in Udeni Market would be sleeping there after market hours and travel the next morning to prevent this kind of night accident.”
Awaisu, who agreed that God had destined the accident, noted that the red flag was on the tree but the paddler could not see the danger indicator because it was dark. Some of the victims who could swim also went the wrong direction because of the darkness.
Rescue efforts commenced shortly after a report of the incident and the exercise helped to rescue many victims. This was with the support of the neighboring Agatu community.
Mukhtari Alhassan the leader of traders from Kano and Katsina states in Loko, said he traveled to Zuba in Abuja to buy new wrappers when the accident happened. He got a call from someone that a boat capsized and his colleagues died in the accident. “I would have been a victim because we usually travel together on market days though we deal in different goods and after transactions we come back to Loko together.”
“Some of us sell women wrappers and clothing materials like bed sheets, curtain materials, others sell jewelries, food items and other essential commodities but this is the first time in many years that such an accident would consume traders.”
They lost six members of their team in the accident but five bodies were recovered. One Malam Abubakar’s body was still missing as at the time of this report.
The Emir of Loko, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed Sabo, visited the scene of the accident and donated funeral materials for the burial of the victims in addition to leading the rescue operations.
Alhassan noted that their concern was the condition of most of the passenger boats ferrying trader along that axis. “We appeal to boat owners to buy bigger boats to prevent future mishaps because even this one that capsized was overloaded with more than 50 people and their loads. Majority of the boats are weak and they load more than their capacity.”
It was very sad losing my daughter in the accident. It was a terrible experience, I will forever live to remember that horrible incident, more so losing my lovely daughter, may Allah have mercy on her