Nigeria, Sept. 21 -- The police have said 10 people, mostly children, drowned in a boat accident on Thursday in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the State.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES by phone, the state police command's spokesperson, Ahmad Rufa'i, said the accident occurred in Zalla Bango, a remote village, when an overloaded wooden canoe capsized.

The police, however, did not know whether the victims were fleeing bandit attacks at the time of the mishap.

Vanguard newspaper had reported that the victims were villagers escaping from a fresh wave of bandit violence, while the Daily Trust reported that many of the victims were women fleeing a looming attack and that the mishap happened when the boat struck the edge of a collapsed culve...