Additional survivors found following southwestern Nigeria boat mishap

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of Nigeria has confirmed the rescue of 15 people who were among the occupants of a passenger boat that capsized in a river in the southwestern state of Sokoto over the weekend.

On Monday, August 18, NEMA Press Unit Head Manzo Ezekiel said in a statement that the rescue of the individuals has raised the incident's total number of survivors to 25 while 25 other people are still missing.

Ezekiel added that Zubaida Umar, NEMA Director General, has assured that search and rescue (SAR) effort will continue until all 25 missing individuals are accounted for.

The Goronyo Dam, which is further upstream from the incident site, will be temporarily closed for two days to permit divers to conduct SAR operations more effectively, the NEMA statement also said.

The unnamed vessel was transporting more than 50 passengers when it capsized near the village of Kojiyo in Sokoto on the morning (local time) of Sunday, August 17.

NEMA had said that only 10 of the boat's occupants were rescued within the first few hours following the capsizing.

Sunday's incident occurred nearly a month after a vessel capsizing that left at least 25 people dead in Niger state south of Sokoto.