By MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Aug 30 (AfrikTimes) – At least 13 people have died and more than 20 remain missing in Zamfara State, northwestern Nigeria, after a boat overcrowded with residents fleeing an armed attack capsized in a river, local residents and officials said on Saturday.
Zamfara has become an epicentre of escalating violence by armed groups, known locally as bandits, amid a surge of factional bloodshed across Africa’s most populous country. The violence often involves Islamist militants or heavily armed criminal gangs.
Witnesses said the assailants stormed two communities in Birnin Magaji ward on Friday afternoon, forcing residents to flee towards a nearby riverbank where only one boat was available. The vessel became heavily overloaded as dozens attempted to escape.
“My eldest son and two other nieces were among the 13 people who died when the boat was heavily overloaded with people,” Shehu Mohammed, a health worker in Birnin Magaji, told reporters.
Maidamma Dankilo, the district head of Birnin Magaji, said 13 people from the boat had been confirmed dead, 22 had been rescued and 22 others are still missing.
Gunmen killed at least two people and abducted more than 100 last weekend in an attack some 150 km (95 miles) west of Birnin Magaji. Zamfara recorded 50 mass abductions between July 2024 and June 2025, involving 1,064 victims, according to a report this week by Lagos-based research firm SBM Intelligence.
