A boat accident in Zalla Bango, a remote community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, has claimed several lives as residents attempted to escape renewed bandit attacks.
Eyewitnesses said most of the victims were women who boarded the boat on Thursday evening, shortly after the Maghrib prayer, in a desperate bid to cross to safety. The vessel reportedly struck the edge of a collapsed culvert along the Goronyo–Sabon Birni road, cracked, and eventually sank.
“Many residents have resorted to fleeing their communities, crossing the river to areas believed to be safer and less accessible to bandits,” a local source told Weekend Trust under anonymity.
Casualties Unconfirmed
The exact death toll remains uncertain, with conflicting reports putting the number of victims between six and 12.
Chairman of Sabon Birni Local Government, Alhaji Ayuba Hashimu, who confirmed the incident, said only one body had been recovered as of Friday morning.
“The boat hit the edge of a collapsed culvert, which led to its breaking and eventual sinking. We are doing everything we can to rescue survivors and recover the bodies,” he explained.
Hashimu noted that the accident occurred as villagers frantically tried to cross the river to avoid another wave of banditry. He also revealed that motorised boats and life jackets, recently procured by the Sokoto State Government, had been distributed to flood-prone areas—including Sabon Birni—just a day before the tragedy.
A Pattern of Tragedies
Residents said this was not the first such mishap in recent months, linking the repeated accidents to worsening insecurity in the region.
Last month, six people drowned in Garin Faji, another Sabon Birni community, under similar circumstances while fleeing an attack.
Separately, six villagers were killed in a fresh assault on Kwanar Kimba last Tuesday. The member representing the area in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Sa’idu Ibrahim, confirmed the killings.
“Residents tried to resist the attackers, which led to a confrontation. Sadly, six people were killed before the gunmen retreated. I just returned from the village to sympathise with the grieving families,” Ibrahim said.
The back-to-back tragedies highlight the grim reality of insecurity in Sokoto’s rural communities, where residents are forced to risk their lives at sea in a desperate bid to escape armed violence.
