Four bodies have been recovered from Friday’s boat mishap at Ojo area of Lagos.
The four bodies, part of passengers in a W19 fibre boat carrying 16 passengers were recovered at Mile 2 area on Saturday. The boat capsized on Friday night.
General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, confirmed the recovery to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.
He said the state government had vowed to enforce safety measures and go after substandard boat operators.
The general manager condoled with the families of victims who lost their lives in recent boat mishaps in the state.
Emmanuel said that LASWA had put many measures in place to reduce incidents of boat mishaps.
“Part of the safety measures is LASWA’s Search and Rescue Unit established to improve response in emergencies.
“Lagos State government is doing all it can to ensure that the sector is viable and safe.
“Government is ready to come down hard on any operator who endangers the lives of people while operating in the sector.
“One of the boat drivers whose actions led to a boat mishap some years back was recently sentenced to life imprisonment,’’ Emmanuel said.
He said that with the huge capital committed to water transportation, government would not fold its arms and allow mediocrity.
The LASWA boss added that the agency had collaborated with Yamaha, manufactures of boat engines to reduce boat prices to enable operators to put more money in safety devices.
Emmanuel admonished passengers to be safety-conscious always.
“The life jacket can save you. Buy your own life jacket if you must. Inspect the life jackets that you are given and make sure they do not have holes and also avoid night travels.
“Safety consciousness is a collective responsibility; if you see something unusual on the waterways, say it,’’ Emmanuel said.
Area Manager, Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mrs Sarat Braimah, also confirmed the recovery of the four bodies that were found at Mile 2.
Braimah said that the NIWA would produce a transportation code that would spell out the dos and don’ts on inland waterways.
She said that the code comprises appropriate guidelines for navigation, offences and penalties.
Barimah said that the transport code would give NIWA enough powers to enforce compliance and confiscate equipment when necessary.
She confirmed that use of substandard boats was responsible for some of the mishaps recorded so far.
“To stem this scourge, efforts have reached advanced stages to formulate standards and regulate the boat building industry.
“In the long term, some classes of boats would be phased out; certain class of boats would be approved and classes of rivers on which operators could function would be listed,’’ Braimah told NAN.
This brings to six the bodies recovered so far from the incident.
Emergency responders had earlier recovered the bodies of a 52-year-old male and a 20-year- old female believed to be victims of boat accident in Lagos.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the Zonal Coordinator South-West National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed the development to NAN on Saturday in Lagos.
Farinloye said that the incident was as a result of a W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people that capsized along the Ojo area of the state.
He said that the boat, which took off from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis, capsized while operating at night against the inland waterways rules.
Farinloye said that the incident happened at about 7.45 p.m on Friday.
“It was found out that the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused it to overturn.
“Marine Police, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Lagos State WaterWays Authority (LASWA) and volunteers swung into action in trying to rescue some of the victims, but to no avail.
“It cannot be confirmed if all the passengers including the captain were wearing life jackets but some people claimed some of them were wearing their life jackets which may not be effective.
“Recovery operations are still ongoing,” Farinloye said.
NAN
