Death Toll Of Ilashe Ojo Lagos Boat Accident At 12 As 3 Declared Missing

August 21, 2017 – Death Toll Of Ilashe Ojo Lagos Boat Accident At 12 As 3 Declared Missing

12 people reportedly died on Sunday when a banana boat capsized at Ilashe in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. Three others are missing.

The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), which confirmed the casualty figure, said the boat was overloaded.

In a statement, LASWA Managing Director Abisola Kamson said four rescued passengers were in hospital, adding that search-and-rescue was ongoing.

Commiserating with the bereaved families, he said, the mishap had again brought to the fore the need for the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to respect the Court of Appeal’s verdict which upheld the state government’s powers to control its intra-inland waterways.

The statement reads:

“An unfortunate incident occurred at Ilashe on Sunday, August 20, 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.

“We sympathise with the families of the deceased .

“The LASWA rescue team has been on ground and search is still ongoing. 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.”