Gabon Boat Mishap Killed 10 Nigerians As 33 Illegal Immigrants Risk Their Lives

«§» 23 June 2013

Ten people drowned and another 20 remain unac counted for after a boat from Nigeria sank off the coast of Gabon, a police official said yesterday.

The boat had left Nigeria carrying West African clandestine migrants and was within 15 minutes of arriving in Gabon’s capital Libreville when it went down late on Tuesday night. Gabonese authorities rescued 23 people and the search continued into yesterday.



“Last night, we had six bodies and since this morning we have found four more, which makes a total of 10 recovered bodies,” said a member of the Nautical Brigade of Gabon’s national police who asked not to be named.

Police said the survivors – from Benin, Nigeria and Burkina Faso-claimed to have each paid the boat’s crew up to 500,000 CFA to take them to Gabon where they hoped to find work.

Local newspapers reported that the human traffickers attempted to extort more money from the immigrants and had begun throwing those who could not pay overboard.

Gabonese authorities said they were investigating the cause of the sinking.

Oil-rich Gabon’s relatively high wages for manual labourers have made the central African nation a popular destination for regional migrants.

But entrance requirements are strict, pushing many to enter the country illegally, often using the dangerous sea route from Nigeria.

At least 45 people died when a wooden boat carrying 166 migrants bound for Gabon capsized off Nigeria in March.

Some 35 people taking the same route died after their boat sank off Cameroon in 2008.

~ THE NATION

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Posted: at 23-06-2013 03:16 AM (10 years ago) | Hero

to bad

Posted: at 23-06-2013 06:21 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac

not again, dy shld find solution 2 all ds wooding boat dt s running d sea quick b4 it kill every body

Posted: at 23-06-2013 04:33 PM (10 years ago) | Upcoming