Boat Tragedy in Bayelsa: Three Children Die as Passenger Vessel Capsizes on Night Trip

(Boat carrying passengers. Photo by Linda Ikejis Blog)

A boat carrying passengers from Azuzuama in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State capsized at the Ikebiri-1 hamlet, killing three children.

The tragedy happened on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at around one in the morning, while a commercial wooden boat was carrying passengers to Yenagoa, the state capital, according to Daily Trust.

The magazine was informed by a local diver in the Ikebiri community that the bodies of the two male and one female youngsters, who were between the ages of six and fifteen, had been retrieved by local divers and returned to the Azuzuama community. 

They have already sent divers from Yenagoa to the area and are expecting a report, according to Ipigansi Ogoniba, a former chairman of the Maritime Union Workers in Bayelsa State, who confirmed the occurrence.

He claimed that because the boat did not leave Yenagoa, the union has not yet received information regarding the casualties and the entire number of passengers on board.

According to information received, overloading and a malfunctioning pumping machine intended to remove water from the boat are suspected of causing the disaster.