10 PERISH IN KOGI BOAT MISHAP

No fewer than 10 per­sons were feared dead and several others wounded when a boat capsized yester­day at Ebe village in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The over 100 passengers in the boat were said to be com­ing to the Lokoja five-day mar­ket when the incident occurred.
According to eyewitness ac­count, the boat sank in the Riv­er Niger due to turbulence oc­casioned by alleged clash between a security patrol team and a boat allegedly conveying oil bunkers.
The source said the patrol team was chasing a boat, sus­pected to be conveying drums of crude oil, which was sighted on the River Niger at about midnight on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the in­cident was due to the diversion by the passenger boat from the original channel in the River Niger to River Burara due to the poor dredging carried out   in the River Niger.
The passengers were said to be coming to Lokoja mar­ket from Ebe village in Kuba-North community in Lokoja Local Government Area of the state and were to disembark in Jamata village where they were to pick a bus to the market.
Sources told Daily Sun that those who sustained injuries were receiving treatment at a private hospital in Lokoja
Confirming the incident, General Manager of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in charge of Corpo­rate Services, Tayo Fadile, said they were yet to get compre­hensive report of the incident. He confirmed that the boat capsized at about 1.00 a.m. on Tuesday, but declined to give the number of casualties.