Following a boat accident on Saturday along the Ojo region of Lagos state, no less than sixteen passengers are still unaccounted for.
In a statement, the Lagos State Waterways Authority stated that the boat departed from Mile 2 and was traveling toward Ibeche in the Ojo axis.
Parts of the statement read, “At about 7.45pm on the 8th of July 2022, The Lagos State Waterways Authority and National Inland Waterways Authority received a distress call of an incident on the waterways.
“A W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people capsized along the Ojo area of the state”
The statement claims that the captain violated the waterway regulations by sailing in the evening without providing life jackets for the passengers.
The statement continued, “The boat going from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7pm.
“As he set out, the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused the boat to overturn. It is said that all passengers on board which includes children were not all putting on their life jackets”
“The Search and Rescue team of the LASWA, National Inland Waterways, Nigerian Marine Police and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency were immediately mobilised to the scene of the incident but unfortunately could only find the boat after several hours while efforts are still ongoing to locate the victims.
“The boat is currently in the custody of Marine Police. The boat captain is also unaccounted for as at the time of this press release.”
