From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
It was a day of tears and sorrows for people of Hanyan Dan Bushiya, in Kaduna-North local government area, when five kids, who usually work as canoe peddlers at the area, were drowned when their canoe suddenly capsized.
The kids, our correspondent gathered, were returning to the river bank to pick other passengers in the early hours of yesterday.
Residents of the village immediately organised a search party to look for the bodies of the kids. As at the time of filing this report only three out of the five bodies have been recovered.
The leader of the search party, one Aminu Ibrahim, who gave the name of the victims as Aliyu Mohammed, 13; Shehu Isma’ila, 13; Ibrahim Ladan, 14; his brother, Musa Ladan, 15, and Mustapha Hamad, 15, said the deceased usually commence ferrying passengers across the river from Hanyan Danbushiya to Rigasa Hayi, but what happened yesterday was just the will of God.
“We know that these boys were very good canoe paddlers and are trusted by those who use canoe as a means of transport. They left early with full passengers, but on their way coming, from what we learnt, the canoe hit an object in the river and then capsized.
“We have recovered two of the bodies while we are still searching for the two,” Ibrahim said.
The village head of Doka, in Hanyan Danbushiya, Alhaji Musa Liman, who was one of those supervising the search, described the incident as unfortunate. He called on parents to ensure that their children master the art of paddling a canoe before engaging in the business.
Alhaji Musa also expressed disappointment over the response by the state Fire Service, who according to him, failed to respond when contacted.
The recovered bodies of the deceased have been buried at the Danbushiya cemetery according to Islamic rites.
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