From frying pan to fire: 16 perish in River Kaduna trying to escape from bandits

No fewer than 16 villagers fleeing from terrorists who have been attacking their communities in Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, yesterday, drowned in River Kaduna.

It was gathered that the gunmen numbering about 100 had stormed Sayita village in the local government, which prompted the villagers to desperately look for an escape route and they decided to flee through River Kaduna, Vanguard reports.

The villagers, it was gathered, loaded themselves into three boats and headed towards Zumba town in Shiroro Local Government Area but could not reach their destination as one of the boats hit a rock at Bodo village in Guni ward of the local government area and capsized.

An eyewitness said no fewer than 30 passengers were said to be in the boat that capsized.

According to an eyewitness, “Bandits invaded our communities this morning, and in an attempt to flee, some people were drowned in the Guni-Zumba river. Due to overloading, the boat capsized in the middle of the water.

“For now, we don’t know the number of casualties because we have not been able to rescue anybody but I can tell you that over 30 people, including women and children, were involved.”