Four farmers died last Saturday when their canoe capsized in the Golinga irrigation dam in the Tolon District of the Northern Region, leaving the entire Galinkpegu community in a state of grief.
They were reportedly coming back from their farm when the event took place at about three o’clock.
Alhassan Zakaria, 40, Yakubu Dana, 45, Alhassan Musa, and Issahaku Musa’s bodies have since been recovered and given to their families for burial in accordance with Islamic norms.
Abdallah Salifu, the Tolon District Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), who confirmed the occurrence, claimed that a search party made up of locals and NADMO staff members searched for all the bodies yesterday afternoon after searching for almost 24 hours.
Mr. Salifu used the occasion to urge canoe operators against overloading and to warn individuals who were fishing near the dam to exercise caution in order to protect their own safety.
The Assemblyman for the Golinga Electoral Area, Nantogmah Zakaria, in an interview, said the entire community had been thrown into a state of shock as that was the first time such a disaster had hit the area.
“We can’t understand or explain what might have caused this tragedy.
These seven men in our community went to a farm on a canoe and upon their return, the canoe capsized and three of them managed their way out, while four got drowned.
“We were able to retrieve three bodies yesterday and with the help of the NADMO rescue team, together with the local team this morning, we were able to retrieve the lifeless body of the fourth victim,” he said.
He further told the Daily Graphic that after the police had inspected the retrieved bodies, they were handed over to their families and had since been buried according to Islamic custom.
