Twenty people are confirmed dead after a boat capsized in Kogi state in north-central Nigeria on Tuesday, September 30.
The unnamed vessel was transporting passengers along the Niger River from Onugwa in Kogi's Ibaji Local Government Area to a market in Edo state when it overturned at around 16:30 local time on Tuesday.
An eyewitness said only five of the boat's occupants are confirmed to have been rescued while 20 deceased victims have so far been recovered from the river. An unknown number of people reportedly remain trapped beneath the overturned vessel.
The incident is the latest fatal boat capsizing to occur in Kogi within the last 12 months.
On November 29 last year, a boat carrying more than 200 people capsized in the Niger River, leaving at least 54 people dead.
Fatal maritime accidents in Nigeria, particularly in the country's more remote communities, have been attributed to regulatory lapses. Mishaps that resulted in death in these areas in recent years have been caused by factors such as overloading, lack of vessel maintenance, and failure to clear waterways of obstructions.
"Nigeria was [the] second worst [country in terms of fatal ferry accidents in 2024] with 423 fatalities from 13 incidents," Dr Neil Baird, Baird Maritime Co-Founder and ferry safety advocate, wrote earlier this year. "The main factor that seems to be saving Nigerians from fates as bad as their Congolese brethren is that they tend to travel on smaller ferries."