Tragedy as seven family members perish in a boat accident after attending a burial in Benue State. The Benue boat tragedy has left the Daududawadawa community in mourning and renewed calls for better waterway safety.

Ali Mohammed, a resident of Daududawadawa community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, suffered a devastating loss on Saturday, 13 June 2026, when seven members of his family perished in a boat accident on the River Benue while returning from their mother’s burial.

The victims were part of a larger group of more than 40 mourners travelling home from the burial ceremony when the overloaded boat capsized. The incident turned an already sorrowful day into an unimaginable tragedy for the affected families.

Mr Mohammed described the scale of the loss in an emotional interview: “My wife and my daughter, all of them drowned and died. Then my brother’s son, his wife and his daughter died. My brother’s child died. My junior brother’s child died.”

This Benue boat tragedy has once again drawn attention to the recurring dangers of water transportation in the state. Many riverine communities in Benue rely heavily on boats for movement, especially during the rainy season, but incidents involving overloaded vessels and poor safety standards have claimed lives in the past.

Search and rescue operations recovered several bodies, though the full circumstances surrounding the capsizing remain under investigation. The loss of an entire extended family unit has deeply affected the close-knit community, compounding the grief from the original burial.

A local leader involved in the response efforts expressed the collective pain of the area, saying many residents now fear using the same waterways that are essential to their daily lives.

As families continue to mourn their loved ones, the Benue boat tragedy serves as a painful reminder of the urgent need for improved safety measures and infrastructure on Nigeria’s inland waterways.