By 12 Die In Lagos Boat Mishap
Not less than 12 persons have been confirmed dead by the Lagos State Waterways Authority. Their untimely deaths resulted from a boat mishap which occurred in the Ilashe area of Lagos state on Sunday.
The Managing Director of Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, Abisola Kamson, attributed the mishap to overloading of passengers on a Banana Boat and the operation of an illegal jetty.
In a statement earlier released and made available to BlackBox Nigeria the managing director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority, while confirming the tragic incident said four victims of the mishap who were rescued are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, while search and rescue operations was still ongoing.
“An unfortunate incident occurred at Ilashe today Sunday, August 20th arising from overloading of passengers on a Banana boat taking off from an illegal Jetty which has become a perennial issue of the Lagos state government to rid our Waterfront areas of illegal operators,” he said.
“We sympathise with the families of the deceased as nine lives were lost in the mishap and four people receiving treatment in the hospital.
“The LASWA rescue team has been on ground and search is still on-going. This brings to fore again the need for NIWA to allow the judgement of the appeal court granting Lagos control of her waterways to take effect without hindrance.
“It is a matter for regret that ever since the judgement was pronounced, NIWA has ejected all State Water Guards monitoring standards from all federal owned jetties. In spite of this, the government of Lagos state aligns to the safety of citizens on the waterways. All Lagosians are enjoined to wear standard life jackets at all times on our Waterways.”
