The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has attributed the 2024 boat accident on the Anam River in Anambra State—which claimed the lives of Nollywood actor Junior Pope and four others—to human error rather than mechanical failure.
NIWA’s Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, disclosed this during a multi-modal transportation stakeholders’ forum held in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Oyebamiji, several passengers on board before the tragic incident had refused to wear the life jackets that were offered to them.
“It was not mechanical failure, not impediments in the water or weather challenges, but purely a flagrant disregard for rules and regulations guiding movement on the inland waterways,” Oyebamiji said.
Referencing the accident, he expressed concern that such behavior undermines NIWA’s ongoing efforts to promote safety across Nigeria’s waterways.
He urged all users of water transportation to support the authority’s mission by promoting and adhering to safety measures.
The forum was attended by several high-profile figures including the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, the Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, the Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, and CEO of Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyema.
Junior Pope was among those who drowned while returning from the set of the movie “Another Side of Life,” produced by Adanma in April 2024. The boat capsized near Cable Point on the River Niger in Asaba, Delta State.