18 DEAD AFTER BOAT CAPSIZE ON NIGER RIVER.

AFP - Eighteen people were con firmed dead when a boat carrying 70 passengers on the Niger River, an official said, a week after 42 died in the same manner.
'We lost 18 lives. We were told that 70 people are in boat,' Mohammed Shaba, head of the State Emergency Management Agency,told AFP.
The accident which occurred on Thursday, took place as people were coming back from a weekly market, added the official.
Shaba said it was unclear whether overloading is to be blamed for the mid river capsizing but said the vessel was "getting old" like many of the boat operating that route.
On September 27, a boat packed with passengers and capsized on the same rive, killing at least 42 people.
The boat with the estimated passengers of 150 on board  split into two in two after setting off from Malilli village in Niger state.
Water on  the river sharp following a heavy raining season in the area, which Shaba said could have been the a contributing factor to last weeks' accident.