No fewer than 26 members of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), a popular denomination in Nigeria, have died in a boat mishap.
The accident occurred in River Benue at Ijaha community on the outskirt of Makurdi, the capital of Benue State in North Central Nigeria on July 5.
Media reports say the victims, all youths, were children of mobile police personnel of MOPOL 13, Makurdi, and were members of the youth wing of the church.
Vanguard newspaper reported that they were on their way to Sabo Rai for an annual retreat for youths with the theme “New Life for All” when the accident occurred.
It reported that the boat was crossing from Agbor, Innyongu area of Wadata to a village in an Island opposite Kwaghter called Ole-Gabu when the accident occurred due to overloading.
Bodies of many of the victims, according to the Benue State Police Command, were recovered on the day the accident occurred by local fishermen and the police while five others were recovered the following day.
The police, in a statement by its spokesperson, Catherine Anene, a DSP, said eight females and five males, were recovered from the river while others were still missing.
One family lost five children while another family lost 17-year-old triplets.
The newspaper also reported that when it visited the homes of the victims, it was told that the youngest among them was nine-year-old Mary Adegizi while the oldest was 26-year-old Shedrack Sanni.
Sanni, who was the leader of the group, reportedly concluded his one-year mandatory national youth service.
The parents of the deceased and sympathisers were at Ijaha community to receive the bodies of their loved ones.
The captain of the boat and his assistance were rescued but are currently in critical condition at a public hospital.
“The church has surrendered to the will of God who knows and understand all things,” the Secretary of the District Church Council of the church, Reverend Banjamin Dooga, who led other pastors of the district to pay condolence visit to the families of the victims, said.
The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, also commiserated with the families of the victim and ECWA church, according to a statement by his media aide.