No fewer than four women drowned in a river following a boat mishap in Afikpo North Local Govern­ment Area of Ebonyi State at the weekend.
It was gathered that the de­ceased and four other women, who went to a farm across the river in Cross River State, were returning to Afikpo when their boat capsized in Oziza River due to a windstorm.
According to an eyewitness account, the four other women were rescued by fishermen, who were in the river when the incident occurred. The source stated that one of the four persons that died was rescued alive but died on the way to hospital.
He said only two corpses were recovered, while two other corpses had not been seen at press time.
Checks by Daily Sun re­vealed that two speed boats hired by the villagers to search for the corpses of the women went as far as Itu in Cross Riv­er State but their efforts were futile.
Secretary to Oziza Tradi­tional Council of Elders, Chief Okpani Egwu, confirmed the incident but warned that those who did not know how to swim should not go near the river.
Speaking in the same vein, the Public Relations Officer of Afikpo North Local Gov­ernment Area, Mr. Emmanuel Irem, urged farmers in Cross River State to always use speed boats and avoid over­loading.

 

4 die in Ebonyi boat mishap