Tragedy struck, Sunday, in the creek of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State as a 200 level student of the state-owned Niger Delta University was killed in a boat
mishap. The deceased identified
simply as Stella, was one of the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission ad-hoc staff for last Saturday local government election in the state. It was learnt that the deceased, a student of the Department of Political Science, met her untimely death around Famgbe in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state. She alongside other ad-hoc staff were returning from Akassa on the Atlantic fringe in Brass Local Government Area after the poll when tragedy struck.
The boat in which they were travelling was said to have capsized a few minutes to their destination which was the Yenagoa jetty. While the other occupants of the ill-fated boat, said to have worn their life jackets survived the accident,the deceased who turned out to be the only casualty was not putting on her own vest when the boat capsized. Chairman of the state Independent Electoral Commission, Chief Blessing Izagara,confirmed the development. Izagara described the incident as unfortunate coming on the heels of an election,adjudged as free, fair and most peaceful in the history of the state. He noted with sadness that the death of Stella was avoidable as it was not as a result of fight between one party or the other but due to carelessness. His words, “the life was lost as a result of carelessness. They were given life jacket in order to safe guard their lives, but she refused to put on her own. When the driver lost control, the boat capsized and she lost her life.”