Scores of Sokoto residents fleeing from Lakurawa terrorists drown as boat capsizes

An unspecified number of residents of Sabon Birni Local Government Area have reportedly lost their lives following a boat mishap as they fled for safety from a fresh wave of Lakurawa terrorists attack.

The Sokoto State Police Command which confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, said the overloaded boat capsized as the villagers tried to escape from the terrorists.

The Police statement disclosed the incident which happened in the early hours of the day threw the community into mourning as search and rescue operations were ongoing to recover the bodies of victims still missing.

The statement noted that though the exact number of passengers aboard the ill-fated boat was yet to be ascertained, local witnesses confirm they were well above 30 who were on the boat.

According to eyewitness accounts, the victims were desperate villagers who had taken to the waterways in a frantic attempt to escape from marauding bandits, but their overloaded boat capsized midway, plunging them into the river.

A resident who spoke to journalists on the condition of anonymity said the latest mishap marks the fourth fatal boat accident in less than two months, raising alarm over the growing humanitarian toll of insecurity and unsafe water transport in the state.

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“Residents of Sabon Birni and neighboring communities have continued to live under siege, with criminal gangs and Lakurawa insurgents unleashing relentless assaults, killing, abducting, and displacing scores of villagers,” the resident said.

“Despite repeated government assurances, the bandits remain entrenched in many parts of the state, mounting checkpoints, burning farmlands, and forcing rural dwellers into mass exodus.

“For now, families of the Sabon Birni victims wait in anguish by the riverbanks as divers and rescue teams search for their loved ones many of whom may never return alive,” he said.

He added that the situation underscores the depth of insecurity that spares no community, regardless of political prominence, especially as the council is hometown of the state’s Deputy Governor, Idris Muhammad Gobir.

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