No fewer than seven persons died last Sunday in a boat mishap at Zhigiri village, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State

The development was made known in a statement issued Tuesday night by the spokesperson of Coalition of Shiroro Associations (COSA) Silas Saba, in Minna, the State’s capital.

Saba, who decried the current challenges caused by the establishment of the Zungeru hydroelectric power dam in the community, confirmed that the incident occurred at 4 p.m. last Sunday.

He recalled that the incident occurred when the villagers were sailing to Dnaweto; a neighbouring village in the hinterland for a naming ceremony.

He added that a man, Muazu Babangida, lost his two wives and a son in the mishap.

“Prior to the construction of Zungeru Dam, travelling between these two villages was by land and need not water transportation, as the terrain was majorly dry and motorable.

“This is one of the social upheaval occasioned by the construction of the dam,” Saba lamented.

The group’s Spokesman revealed that the villagers had yet to recover the body of one of the affected victims from the river.

Saba called on Hydro-electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) to respond to the incessant accident and attendant causality by providing safety measures such as life jackets and standard boats, among others, so as to help the people to adapt to their new way of life of water transportation.

He said that providing these measures and sensitizing the people on the use of the waterway would prevent and minimize the future occurrence.

The Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency could not be reached as at the time of filing this report.

TodayNG