LAGOS – The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) on Friday introduced a compulsory manifest in boat operations in Lagos State to ascertain the number of passengers boarding a ferry.
The Head of Lagos Office, NIWA, Mrs Sarat Sulaimon, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the introduction of the compulsory manifest followed the Wednesday’s boat mishap in Ikorodu.
Sulaimon said that eight people died in the accident while one person was missing.
“This incident that happened, from what we learnt, was caused by excessive speeding.
“ NIMASA (Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency), NIWA, NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) were there yesterday, we went to meet the operators.
“We went to see all their captains, check their certification, and know whether or not they were fit to operate the boats.
“We found out that there was a lot of conflicting stories about number of people on board.
“So, from there we realised we were supposed to introduce a system of taking passengers’ manifest before entering boats.
“That, we have been taking up since yesterday.
“All the eight bodies have been recovered that same day around 6:30 p.m., but one family came yesterday to claim that there was still one person missing.
“There are rescue searches around that water. Up till yesterday we have not found that body, “ Sulaimon said.
She said that the eight people died in spite of wearing life jackets owing to late arrival of rescue teams, adding that NIWA would intensify safety of passengers on water transportation.
“Before now, we used to have problem of people not wearing jackets; we used to have problem of people wearing fake life jackets.
“ But now, I think we have our staff members going around all the jetties to make sure the passengers correctly wear life jackets; people are aware of the importance of wearing it.
“The only thing is that we want to intensify more on our safety talk to make them know that the essence of life jacket is not for you to sit in the boat when there is an accident.
“You jump into the water, that life jacket will save you or take you to where you will see rescue teams.
“Even in the advanced country water is the safest means of transportation.
“You hardly see casualties on water. If it was a plane that crashed yesterday everybody would die. If it is accident on the road you may not see survivors.
“But with that life jacket you will float for more than one hour before you see people that will come to your rescue.’’
She said that the captain of the ill-fated boat had called the office to inform it of the problem that the boat had and asked for its replacement.
She blamed the incident on human errors, saying that NIWA would intensify efforts toward correcting those errors. (NAN)
