People living close to the Gwange River in Maiduguri are resilient – they know the river overflows every rainy season but, instead of allowing the flooding to get them down, they travel by boat to get to their desired destinations.

Businessmen, schoolchildren and shoppers are used to this. They have been doing it for years. But this year the river is extremely high and some passengers fear ending up in the water and drowning.

RNI reporter Zainab Alhaji Ali went to the Gwange River to speak to the people using the boats as transport.

Pupil Fatima Muhammad said: “I use the boat to go to school every day. It doesn’t frighten me because I am used to it. Although I heard recently that a boat had capsized during strong winds and everyone fell overboard. Thankfully, no one drowned.”

Businessman Umar Muhammed said he had been using the boat to get to work for more than 20 years. “I’m not afraid.”

But Aisha Garba said she was very afraid. “I’m afraid because the river is so full this year. Every time I travel by boat I fear that it will capsize. But we have no choice, if we need to go somewhere, we have to go by boat. It’s as simple as that.”

Muhammad Abakar also said he was scared. “I am especially worried and scared when there is a strong wind. The boat is small and not strong. Fierce winds can easily make the boat capsize and we will all land up in the water. And that’s what I fear most, falling into the water. So I am always praying that there won’t be a strong wind.”

All the passengers told RNI that they wanted the government to provide flotation suits or life jackets to the boatsmen, so that all passengers would feel a lot safer when they travelled by boat. They also said new boats should be provided because some of the boats had been around for more than 50 years.

Buba Malam, a skipper, said: “I have been in this business for a long time – since I was a young boy. Every year most of the boats capsize three to four times. Sometimes even five times if it is overloaded. But, to stop that, we skippers have reduced the number of passengers we carry. It is much more dangerous when the boat is overloaded. So far this year no boats have capsized or overturned in the water.

“We keep two paddles on the boat now. One for driving and the other for emergencies to keep the boat floating if we get stuck or to stop it overturning. That way we can stop people falling into the river. Even in developed countries, where they have modern boats, sometimes there are incidents of boats overturning and capsizing. But it is more difficult here because most of our boats are very old. The government should supply each skipper with life jackets for our passengers.”

Zainab Alhaji Ali