Sixteen family members on Saturday, 9 July, perished on the eve of the Eid-el-Kabir festival while sailing in a boat from Mile 2 to Ibeshe, Ojo in Lagos State.
The officials of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Lagos Area Office, led by the area manager, Engr. Sarat Buraimah paid a condolence visit to Ibeshe town on Wednesday.
The Ovori of Ibeshe, Oba Alani Gausu, said the victims, who were from the Sumola Aniajogun family of Ibeshe, were traveling for Sallah when they perished in a boat mishap on Friday.
According to Leadership report, NIWA also revealed that the jetty where the ill-fated boat departed last Friday had been shut down since June 2021 with policemen permanently stationed at the jetty for enforcement.
According to the traditional ruler, the ill-fated boat sank after carrying passengers beyond its capacity as well as operating outside the time of safe navigation.
Oba Gausu also blamed lack of training, drug abuse, and operating after regulatory hours by boat operators as challenges responsible for boat accidents on Lagos waterways.
“The boat tragedy that resulted in the death of seventeen boat passengers last Friday was down to human error.
“The boat driver failed to do what he ought to have done before loading passengers on the boat and pushing the boat into the water.
“How can a boat driver load passengers on a boat, and push the boat into the water before checking if he has the correct mixture of engine oil in the boat engine?”
“Due to this error from the boat driver, the tide pushed the fully loaded boat underneath a barge and the entire passengers, including the boat driver, drowned.
“It all comes down to lack of training for boat drivers. Many of them are not educated, they operate under the influence of drugs and it is important that NIWA, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), and other stakeholders provide training for boat skippers,” he added.
He, however, enjoined the NIWA boss to ensure adequate training for boat skippers, saying the boat that sank operated above its capacity.
“If boat skippers are well trained, the scenario where drivers operate outside the 6:30 am to 6:30 pm stipulated time won’t occur. The ill-fated boat that sank was carrying passengers beyond its capacity.
“The boat was overloaded and was operating outside the time for safe navigation. We need more training for boat drivers to ensure incidences like this do not repeat itself,” he added.
Speaking earlier, the NIWA area manager, Engr. Braimah assured the monarch of an increased patrol of the waterways to forestall future occurrence of such incidences.
She also stated that they will intensify training for boat skippers, and the Authority will take advocacy and training to riverine communities to forestall a reoccurrence of the Ibeshe incident.
The NIWA delegation also visited the Sumola Aniajogun family house of the seventeen deceased boat passengers, who lost their lives alongside the ill-fated boat drivers.
