15th September, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga
A passenger boat has capsized at Bayeku area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria with four persons reportedly drowned and one other still missing, emergency response agency has said.
The passenger boat was reported to have capsized around 7:30pm on Saturday while conveying passengers from Okera Nla.
It was not clear what led to the capsizing of the boat, but it was travelling at night. The Lagos State Waterways has banned any boat from travelling at night but such ban is not being enforced as several boats still convey passengers at night to their destination.
General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu confirmed the boat mishap, saying that 22 passengers were on board when the tragedy occurred.
He disclosed that four passengers were dead, one still missing, while 17 others had been rescued alive.
According to him, “A boat enroute to Bayeku from Okera Nla with 22 passengers capsized at 7:30pm on Saturday. Four bodies were recovered, 17 passengers rescued alive. However, one passenger is still missing, rescue operation is still ongoing,” he said.
Spokesperson, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye said the passenger boat was owned by Okera Nla Boat Association, saying that some were rescued alive and some still missing.
There had been series of boat mishap in Lagos this year alone, with one of the worst being the accident which killed about 13 passengers in Ikorodu area of Lagos as they were coming from Lagos Island.
The Lagos State Government had set up a tribunal of enquiry into boat mishap in Lagos, with the tribunal submitting its report over three months ago, but the government had refused to make the findings of the tribunal public.
Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, who received the report declined to make it public, saying that Governor Babatunde Fashola had to receive the report first, go through it after which a white paper would be issued before it would be made public.
As at today, the white paper had never been issued nor the report made public by the government.
With the rate of boat accidents, the Lagos Waterways remain a dead trap as safety could not be guaranteed on water as operators breach the guidelines for waterways operation.
Recently, the Lagos State Government flagged off the distribution of 10,000 life jackets to operators in the water transportation system in a bid to promote the use of life jackets by passengers while on water.