Photo Courtesy of Twitter/@AtikuAbubakar

Joseph Blankson is Nigerian hero. He lost his life by drowning after saving 13 people after a boat they were traveling in flipped.

The spokesman for the Rivers State police, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed to CNN that his death happened after he attempted to help a group of 24 other people he was traveling with after their passenger boat crashed into an object.

To save them, Joseph Blankson, jumped into the water and managed to save 13 people, but as he attempted to save a 14th person, he tragically drowned.

In an interview with the news channel, Nnamdi confirmed that Joseph was the only casualty from the boat accident as other boat drivers came to the rescue of the remaining passengers that needed to be saved.

Joseph leaves behind a four-year-old son and seven-month daughter, along with his wife Mercy, who paid tribute to her husband, “he was a loving and caring man, a very good father to our kids. He put people first, before himself. He was selfless.”

Mercy added that Jackson who lives in the southern Nigerian region of Port Harcourt, had gone to his village along with his sisters, who were among the survivors of the accident.

“I was at home waiting for him to come back from work because he works on Saturdays. From work, he went to the village, and when I called him at 2 pm, his phone was switched off.”

Mercy has been left devastated and admits it will not be easy to raise her children alone especially since she is currently unemployed and her husband was the sole breadwinner for the family.

In the meantime, Nigerians have now launched a petition appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to consider handing Joseph a national honor.