Early in September, Aliyu Husseini, a boat driver in Jigawa, Northwest Nigeria, was arrested and detained by the police after his boat capsized, killing eight passengers.
The police later released Mr Husseini without charges. He stated that he has since returned to work: ferrying passengers in his shallow canoe without providing them life jackets.
Residents of Birnin Kudu, where Mr Husseini does business, resorted to travelling in canoes after a flood swept away the bridge which linked the area with neighbouring Kano State.
Since torrential rain began in August, floods have displaced thousands of people and killed over 100 across the state. Many families have also lost their homes, livestock, and farmlands. The floods have also destroyed infrastructures like dams and bridges and washed away several roads.
Transportation by boat in the state is not regulated. Thus operators often overload their boats and seldom provide life jackets to commuters.
Mr Husseini told that he makes between N30,000 and N50,000 daily from ferrying people and goods across the water where the Birnin Kudu bridge used to be before it was destroyed by flood.
He was providing a useful service to the community where the government has failed.
“We are doing our best to help the people. Without us, the situation could have been more difficult because there is no government presence here. We need government support, only journalists are coming here, the police came once and arrested me and others because our boat capsized.
“We have discovered at least 20 corpses in this area some of which the water carried from other communities. We buried some of the corpses after they were unclaimed, and others were given to their relatives for burial.
“We give a discount to people from Birnin Kudu taking their sick ones to hospital in Dutse, but we don’t collect money from aged people, and from people carrying their dead,” Mr Husseini said.
Mr Hussaini’s colleague, Ya’u Musa, said he was a boat operator in Lagos, south-west Nigeria. He said, unlike in Lagos, Jigawa boat operators are not mandated to provide life jackets for their passengers.
“We are self-regulated. Each boat takes 12 passengers per trip collecting N50 per person but when the water level is high, we take only five people and double the amount to cover the gaps.
“In Lagos, if five life jackets are allotted to the boat, it means that only five people are allowed to enter the boat, there is no chance for overloading because anybody without a life jacket will not be allowed to ferry,” Mr Musa said.
As it is in Birnin Kudu council, so it is in several flood-ravaged areas in Jigawa State. Many of these communities now commute by boat. In Ringim Local Government Area, which is one of the worst-hit areas, floods have sacked 11 communities, damaged several facilities and displaced thousands of people, officials said.
