Kunle Adelabu
-Residents blame regulators, operators
Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has said that the cause of the last night’s boat mishap is yet to be determined as investigation still ongoing on what happened.
It has also been stated that an additional corpse of one of the three victims has also been recovered. It was gathered that two bodies had earlier been recovered by the search and rescue teams of LASWA and jetty operators who were the first responders.
The LASWA’s spokesperson, Wuraola Alake, in another statement today on the unfortunate incident, said:
“In continuation of the search and rescue operations on the current mishap involving Oluwaseyifunmi boat, one additional corpse has been recovered alongside the submerged boat from the scene of the incident.
“The exact cause of this incident is still being investigated, as some of the rescued passengers denied the claim that the affected boats were engaging in boat racing”, she added.
She also stated that nine of the 11 rescued passengers agreed to provide the LASWA authority their details which were not captured at their point of boarding the boat last night, while two refused.
“The passengers at the Addax Jetty filled no manifest before they boarded the boat, but 9 out of the 11 rescued passengers later filled the manifest at the Ibeshe ferry terminal after LASWA and other first respondents had rescued them. At the same time, two other passengers refused to put down their details”, she said in the statement.
“Eleven passengers were confirmed to be alive, while the recovered casualties have been handed over to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) and the State Environmental Heallth Management Unit (SEHMU)”.
Meanwhile, Mr Babatunde Afuwape, a community leader in Igbogbo, responding to news by THE IMPACT on the mishap earlier, called for reappraisal of the operating procedures for boat operators.
“I think there is need to reappraise the protocols and operating procedures of boats operators to stem the tide of boats accidents”, he said.
A resident of Ikorodu and holder of the Guinness Book of World Record in Marathon Read Aloud, both in the individual and group categories, Mr Bayode Olawunmi Treasures, blamed the boat operators for mishaps on the waterways.
“Those operators are very reckless and their nonchalant attitude is telling. I always report their misdemeanors to the then EA on Maritime Affairs”, he said.
“I no dey gree for them ooo! Mi o ni je ke ni kan lo fi emi mi ta kite, we still have work to do in Ikorodu”, he added.
Gbenga, another resident of Igbogbo, put the blame on the regulators whom he alleged of failing to ensure proper regulations.
“The is the effect of improper regulation. These Niwa guys are not regulating shit”, he said.
“This is the second mishap in less than one week”.
