Boat Mishap: Lagos warns Ferry operators against night travels
Following a fatal boat accident on Friday, the Lagos State Government has warned ferry operators and passengers against Night travels.
Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde said the avoidable boat mishap occurred after an overloaded 20-passenger capacity commercial ferry took off illegally from Èbúté Ẹrọ Jetty.
It was around 8pm when it headed towards Ikorodu unfortunately, ran into an unforeseen object on the Waterways causing it to capsize.
He said the immediate rescue efforts deployed by the State government, comprising of Lagos State Inland Waterways Authority (LASWA) search party,
local boat operators search team, the Marine Police and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), were able to save 16 passengers.
one person was in critical condition, while five deaths were recorded.
The Commissioner, alongside the General Manager (LASWA), Mr. Damilola Emmanuel, who was at the Ikorodu scene of the incident, commiserated with the families of the dead passengers.
They assured that the violators of the mishap will be prosecuted as the unfortunate incident is already under investigation.
Oladeinde appealed to all ferry operators to desist from acting contrary to the stipulated safety guidelines in order to avoid such incidents.
He noted that if the rule of ‘No Night Travel’ on the waterways from 6.00 pm had been strictly observed by the operators, the accident could have been averted.
In his remarks at the scene of the incident, the General Manager LASWA, Mr. Damilola Emmanuel reiterated that, henceforth, any operator who violates any of the laid down safety guidelines,
especially the ‘no night travel’ rule, would be arrested by the Marine Police and the boat involved confiscated.
