The authorities say that about 10 people rescued after the accident in the northwest region of the African country.
Rescuers are looking for more than 40 people who disappear after a boat overturned in the northwest state of Sokoto de Nigeria, according to the authorities.
The National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (Nema) said on Sunday that its Operations Office of Sokoto had deployed an response team to support rescue efforts after the “tragic accident of boats.”
The general director of Nema, Zubaida Umar, said the agency responded after “receiving reports that a ship that transmits more than 50 passengers to the Gloryo market had overturned.”
Nema said in a shared statement on social networks that about 10 people had been rescued and that more than 40 passengers were missing.
The Punch newspaper of Nigeria, citing a local official, said the accident may have been caused by overload, a recurring problem for boats in the state's river communities.
Boat accidents are common in Nigeria, particularly during the annual rainfall season, from March to October, when rivers and lakes overflow.
At least 16 farmers died in a similar accident in the state of Sokoto in August 2024, when a wooden canoe transported them through a river to their rice fields overturned.
Last month, at least 13 people died and dozen more disappeared after a boat that transported about 100 passengers overturned in the state of Niger, in the center-norte of Nigeria.
Two days later, six girls drowned after a boat that took them to the house of agricultural work overturned in the middle of the current in the state of the northwest of Jigawa.
