Nigeria's ex-president unhurt in road crash, two security aides killed

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was unhurt in a crash involving his motorcade but two of his security aides were killed in the incident on Wednesday, his media office said Thursday.

Two other security aides of Jonathan also sustained injuries in the accident which involved a car carrying the security men in the vicinity of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, while the former president was on his way out of the city on Wednesday evening, the media office said in a statement.

"The former president who described the incident as painful and heart-rending stated that the sudden death of the two security details has thrown him into deep mourning," the statement said, without revealing the cause of the accident.

The deceased were police officers attached as security details to Jonathan, who was the Nigerian leader from 2010 to 2015.

Jonathan described the deceased aides as "fine officers who were dedicated to their duties and service to the nation," according to the media office's statement.

Xinhua

Nigerian rescuers find dozens of bodies after boat tragedy

Nigerian rescue workers pulled more than three dozen bodies from the water on Thursday after an overcrowded riverboat sank leaving more than 150 people missing and feared drowned.

Survivors and officials said only 20 people were rescued on Wednesday when the wooden boat ferrying passengers to a market broke apart and sank as it travelled between central Niger state and Wara in northwest Kebbi state.

“Nine more bodies have been recovered. So far 45 bodies have been found. The search continues for more bodies,” Abubakar Shehu, a local official supervising the rescue operation, told AFP news agency.

Riverboat tragedies are common on Nigerian waterways mostly due to overcrowding, weather and lack of maintenance, but Wednesday’s toll would be one of the deadliest in recent years.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday called the mishap “devastating” after the country’s inland waterways authority said only 20 people had been rescued and another 156 were still missing.

Ali Ibrahim Garba, wearing an orange life jacket standing near wooden boats on the river bank, said rescuers were still searching for missing people after saving as many as they could.

“Right now we are in search of three people, one male and two females,” he told AFP.

NIWA agency local manager Yusuf Birma told reporters on Wednesday the boat was overcrowded with about 180 people and went down an hour into its journey.

Local district administrator Abdullahi Buhari Wara said the boat was also loaded with bags of sand from a gold mine.

NIWA has banned nighttime sailing on the rivers to stop accidents and says overloading ships is a criminal offence, but skippers and crews often ignore the regulations.

Early in May, 30 people drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in Niger state.

The boat carrying 100 local traders also split into two during a storm as they were returning from a local market.

The Niger, West Africa’s main river travelling through Guinea to Nigeria’s Niger Delta, is a key local trade route for some of the countries. 

Al Jazeera

At least 28 dead following boat mishap in north-central Nigeria

At least 28 people were confirmed dead while seven others were declared missing following a boat mishap in Nigeria's central-north state of Niger, said local authorities on Sunday.

Ahmed Inga, the director-general of the State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA) in Niger, said the accident happened at about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday when a wooden boat carrying 100 people hit a stump of a tree and broke in a river in Shiroro local government area of the state.

Inga said the boat sink about 50 metres to its destination.

He said so far 65 people have been rescued and 28 corpses recovered by local divers, while seven people are still missing.

A rescue operation was still ongoing to recover the missing persons, Inga said. 

Xinhua

Nigeria fuel tanker crash kills 23 people

At least 23 people were killed after a petrol tanker overturned and caught fire on a busy road in Nigeria’s central state of Kogi.

The tanker lost control and rammed into five cars, three tricycles and two motorcycles on the Lokoja-Abuja highway on Wednesday.

It reportedly fell on one of the five cars carrying a family, crushing them to death before bursting into flames, local media reported.

Kogi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp Idris Fika Ali confirmed that 23 people were killed in the explosion while one child survived with injuries.

He went on to say that the occupants of the 10 vehicles involved have been killed.

“The death of 23 people as confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Commission, represents another disturbing and saddening incident in the litany of tragedies that have befallen our country,” President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement.

“I am seriously worried about the frequency of these unfortunate and large scale tragedies in the country which cause needless deaths,” he added.

Bisi Kazeem, a spokesman for the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said nine children were involved in the accident, which happened opposite a petrol station along the highway.

Traffic accidents are common in Nigeria, where roads are ill-maintained and safety standards poor.

Al Jazeera

Fuel tanker explosion kills 2 in Nigeria

Nigerian presidency confirmed on Thursday two people were killed in a fuel tanker explosion which wreaked havoc in the southern state of Anambra on Wednesday.

A woman and her child were confirmed killed as the tanker fell and spilled its content on a busy road in Onitsha, a commercial city of Anambra, according to a statement from the presidency.

"I am profoundly touched by the sight of the charred remains of an innocent mother and her child who are victims of this tragedy," Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in the statement issued in Abuja.

"I also extend my sympathies to other victims of the explosion whose houses, shops and other property were destroyed in the mishap," he said.

Over 40 buildings and scores of shops were lost to the fire, according to local media.

Buhari called for urgent action on the part of those concerned to stem these frequent fatal disasters on public roads.

The president directed relevant government ministries and departments, as well as local stakeholders, to urgently address the issue of safety standards in the country, with a view to "stemming the embarrassing frequency of these tragedies".

Andrew Kumapayi, head of the state's Federal Road Safety Commission, told Xinhua the tanker lost control and fell into a gutter after experiencing break failure, spilling its content and causing fire.

Kumapayi said the fire service officials got to the scene promptly but could not put out the fire as their water pump developed fault.

Acording to him, the fire spread through the gutter and affected houses and shops along the road.

In July, a similar explosion in the central Nigerian state of Benue had claimed at least 45 lives.

Xinhua

Fuel tanker explosion in Nigeria kills 1

One person was confirmed killed following an early Wednesday explosion from a fuel tanker in Nigeria's northeastern state of Gombe, according to a Red Cross official.

The explosion, which occurred on a highway linking Gombe to the neighboring northeastern state of Bauchi, also razed at least five lockup shops.

Abass Mohammed, an official of the Nigerian Red Cross Society in Gombe, said the tanker which erupted in fire near the village of Tumfure, had a head-on collision with a truck.

Mohammed said the tanker was trying to avoid a stationary vehicle ahead when it ran into a truck coming in the opposite direction.

The severity of the fire had caused serious damage to the nearby shops. The victim, a motorcycle rider, burned beyond recognition, he added.

Xinhua

Bodies recovered from capsized boat in Lagos, Nigeria

One more body has been recovered from the area where a boat capsized in Lagos on Sunday night. This brings the total number bodies recovered so far to eight. Three were rescued alive but others are still unaccounted for.

Nigeria vice president involved in helicopter crash

The helicopter of Nigeria's vice president crash-landed but he and the crew are safe, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Laolu Akande in a Twitter post said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was "continuing with his engagements and plans for the day" after the crash in Kabba in Kogi state.

Akande gave no further details on the crash but he thanked God and the flight crew.

Local media outlet Sahara Reporters published photos of a helicopter on its side, its rotor blades smashed.

"We are safe and sound!" Osinbajo tweeted, saying the crew managed the situation well. He linked to a video of himself appeared unscathed and waving to supporters from a vehicle.

Akande later said the vice president told a crowd that "we are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives."

Nigeria's presidential election is on February 16 and President Muhammadu Buhari seeks a second term.

AP