A boat mishap in Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State has claimed the lives of yet to be specified number of persons.
KemiFilaniNews gathered that the incident happened on Friday when a boat paddling a bus conveying some members of the NKST Church, Iortyer Makurdi, across river Buruku capsized into the river drowning several of them to death.
This is not the first time that a boat mishap would be killing travellers at the Buruku crossing point of River Benue. Over 20 passengers lost their lives in a boat mishap which occurred on the night of Wednesday 24th Oct 2018 when members of the Benue Motorcycle Hires Association, Ugonduzua branch in Logo Local government area of Benue state were taking the corpse of one of their members for burial across river Benue at Buruku crossing point.
Commuters and road transporters had called for the construction of a bridge over the river to stop the traditional paddling of vehicles across the river by canoes which has become a deadly adventure.
But however, according to a source who spoke to our correspondent on anonymous condition the locals have been very adamant about the construction of a bridge over the river.
The source said representatives of the area have several at times tried to influenced the construction of a bridge over the river but were always opposed by the locals who claimed that the building of a bridge on the river will put many of them whom their means of livelihoods depend on transporting people, goods and vehicles on boats across the river out of business.
“The issue of boat mishaps and incessant flooding has become a recurring decimal at the Buruku crossing point. Travelers have been calling for the building of a bridge over the river but Buruku people rejected the offer when Sen. Gabriel Suswam and Sen. Orkev Jev made the move.
They claimed that the construction of a bridge across Buruku will put boat owners out of the market as well as render the operators (who derive pleasure in using foul language on helpless people) jobless,” the source said.
Efforts by our reporter to get police comment on the boat mishap proved abortive as a spokesperson of the Benue State Police Command was unreachable as at the time of filing this report.
