At least 13 people drowned and more than 20 remain missing in northwestern Nigeria after a boat carrying residents fleeing an armed attack sank in a river, local officials and survivors said on Saturday.
The incident occurred Friday in Birnin Magaji ward, Zamfara State, where gunmen raided two communities, forcing panicked residents to rush toward the river. With only one boat available, dozens crowded aboard in an attempt to escape.
“My eldest son and two nieces were among the 13 who drowned when the boat became heavily overloaded,” said Shehu Mohammed, a local health worker.
Maidamma Dankilo, the district head of Birnin Magaji, confirmed that 13 bodies had been recovered, 22 people rescued, and 22 others were still missing.
Zamfara has been at the center of Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, with armed gangs—locally called bandits—staging frequent raids. Just last weekend, gunmen killed at least two people and abducted over 100 in a village 150 kilometers west of Birnin Magaji.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, Zamfara alone recorded 50 mass abductions involving more than 1,000 victims, according to Lagos-based security research group SBM Intelligence.