- As 253 Nigerians, deported from Libya arrive Lagos Airport
At least 20 people, almost all women, were killed when a wooden boat capsized off Senegal`s central coast in a delta region popular with tourists, firefighters told AFP on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on Monday night, with the traditional flat-bottomed boat overturning off Bettenty, an island area just north of The Gambia, with 72 on board.
All except two of those on board were women, said Commander Umar Kane, a senior firefighting official.
“Unfortunately, we have 20 bodies and one person missing,” Kane told AFP, saying another 51 people had been rescued.
He said there were only two men on board.
The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, he said. The incident occurred in a coastal area well known for its delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.
Bettenty is an island area in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, with divers called in to help the search, Kane said.
L`Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded. Several papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sunk during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world`s worst-ever maritime disasters.
In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.
Only 64 people were rescued.
The Bettenty sinking came 12 days after a deadly fire ripped through a Muslim retreat in southeastern Senegal killing around 30 people.
Police are still investigating the cause of the blaze which hit a site visited every year by hundreds and sometimes thousands of pilgrims from the country`s powerful Tijaniyya Muslim brotherhood.
Initial reports suggested it may have been caused by a gas canister which exploded while pilgrims were making tea in a straw shelter, with police arresting four people.
In the meantime, 253 Nigerians, who have been stranded in Libya were Tuesday deported back to Nigeria aboard an Airbus A333-200 with registration number 5A LAT.
The 253 returnees who were conveyed on the Libyan Airline plane comprised of 140 adult females and 8 children. Also aboard were 103 adult male and 3 male children. This is the largest single batch of deportees to arrive Lagos Airport in recent times.
The returnees journey back to Nigeria, as usual , was facilitated by International Organisation for Migration, IOM, after the Federal Government asked for its assistance after confirming that some Nigerians were willing to return home.
The aircraft conveying them landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, around 8:10pm yesterday and were received at the Hajj Terminal by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.
There were two medical cases among the deportees with one of them suffering serious burns on her face and the second had mental depression.
Addressing newsmen at the Hajj Camp wing of the airport where the returnees were profiled, the Director General of NEMA, Engr Mustapha Maihaja , represented by the Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, Dr. Abdullahi Onimode, said the deportees would be given some token to go back to their respective destinations. He also advised those leaving the country in search of greener pastures to have a rethink and stay in the country to develop it.
The NEMA boss, in a repeated sermon, said, “We are giving them some stipends. We need to let them realize that the country they left some years ago is not the same country they are meeting today. We have moved ahead and everybody now has equal opportunity to be the best you can be.”
Some of the deportees said they will never leave Nigeria again. One of them who identified herself as Mary told Vanguard that it was a miracle she returned safely back to Nigeria as she was being sold like a piece of merchandise in Libya.
According to her,” They were selling some of us like wood from one guard who will take us to some destination and again sell us to another who will now be our new owner. That will take us again to some distance and say his contract with us has expire and again sell us to another person.”
She added that “ if you complain , they will ask you if you don’t want to go to Europe again. My brother, e no easy”, she laughed.
Zee with additional report from Vanguard
