At leaat 32 die after boat hits tree stump in Nigeria

Abdullahi Baba Ara, the spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) in the state, told BBC Hausa on Thursday that more than 50 other people had been rescued, with eight still missing.

Search operations are continuing.

Mr Ara said the government had set up a team of "water marshals" to stop boat operators from overloading their vessels and ensure passengers wear life jackets.

"Perhaps the water marshals were not on duty when this boat took off," he said, adding that investigations had started.

A local district head told the Reuters news agency that he had been at the scene soon after the accident.

"I was at the scene yesterday around 12 pm until 4 pm. The boat carried more than 100 people. We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed," Reuters quoted Sa'adu Inuwa Muhammad as saying.

Boat accidents are fairly common in Nigeria, often due to overloading, poor regulation and inadequate safety precautions.