By Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto
SOKOTO:– Fear and grief have once again gripped Sokoto State following the death of several villagers in a boat mishap in Sabon Birni Local Government Area, as they fled for safety from a fresh wave of bandit attacks.
The Sokoto State Police Command on Saturday confirmed the incident, disclosing that search and rescue operations are ongoing to recover the bodies of victims still missing. Officials, however, noted that the exact number of passengers aboard the ill-fated boat was yet to be ascertained.
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.
This 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.
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.
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.
The choice of Sabon Birni as the backdrop of this latest disaster is particularly symbolic, as the area is the birthplace of the state’s Deputy Governor, Idris Muhammad Gobir. Locals say this only underscores the depth of insecurity that spares no community, regardless of political prominence.
The recurring tragedies on Sokoto’s waterways have drawn sharp criticism from civil society and community leaders, who accuse authorities of failing to address both the security menace and the recurring transport hazards that have now claimed dozens of innocent lives.
Security experts warn that unless urgent and coordinated measures are taken, Sokoto risks sinking deeper into a cycle of bloodshed, displacement, and avoidable disasters.
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.
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