Marine police and local divers recovered nine corpses from a boat disaster on River Benue, central Nigeria, Tuesday, police said, according to dpa. "They were some of 20 persons that died in a boat mishap on the river," Emmanuel Deebom, police spokesman in Benue State, said. Deebom said efforts were ongoing to locate other victims who must have been washed far away in the river. The victims died as violent waves upturned the boat in which they were travelling. Deebom said the accident occurred Monday night, but that the news did not filter into town till Tuesday, delaying rescue efforts. He said the boat was carrying people fleeing from a land dispute in the Guma council area of Benue State to Makurdi, the state capital, when the accident occurred. Deebom said 18 of the dead were herdsmen and their families, while the two others were the driver and his assistant. A villager, resident on the bank of the river, Ayarm Baverdoo, said the boat was possibly overloaded. Baverdoo accused boat owners operating in the area of exploiting passengers, saying that the capacity of the ill-fated boat was only 12 and not 20 passengers.
