No fewer than 13 people have been confirmed dead, while 22 others are missing in Zamfara State after the boat they crowded aboard to escape an attack by gunmen sank in a river.
The gunmen were said to have stormed two communities in Birnin Magaji ward on Friday afternoon, sending locals fleeing toward a nearby riverbank that had a single boat.
“My eldest son and two other nieces were among the 13 people who died when the boat was heavily overloaded with people,” a health worker in Birnin Magaji, Shehu Mohammed, told Reuters on Saturday, August 30, 2025.
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The district head of Birnin Magaji, Maidamma Dankilo, said 13 people from the boat had been confirmed dead, 22 had been rescued, and 22 others were 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 State 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.
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