Yesterday Lagos State Government recovered the bodies of six children who drowned in Wednesday’s boat tragedy in Ojo area of Lagos.
The Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, Yinka Marinho, said in a news conference in Ikeja that three of the bodies were recovered on Wednesday while another three was recovered on Thursday .
Marinho said eight of the 14 children survived the tragedy while six died and that the accident was as a result of a motorised Boat crashing into a canoe carrying the children to school. The boat had a mechanical fault midway in the water around Irewe, Ojo.
He mentioned that the operator of the boat was trying to fix the problem as his boat stopped in the water when it ran into the canoe.
He disclosed that the captain of the boat had been arrested and detained at the Railway Police Station, lamenting that the passengers in the boat were not wearing live jacket despite the fact that the government had distributed 3,500 life jackets to boat operators.The Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, Yinka Marinho, said in a news conference in Ikeja that three of the bodies were recovered on Wednesday while another three was recovered on Thursday .
Marinho said eight of the 14 children survived the tragedy while six died and that the accident was as a result of a motorised Boat crashing into a canoe carrying the children to school. The boat had a mechanical fault midway in the water around Irewe, Ojo.
He mentioned that the operator of the boat was trying to fix the problem as his boat stopped in the water when it ran into the canoe.
The Managing Director said the state had 53 water terminals where all registered boats must take off, adding that no boat operator dared to leave the terminal without its passengers wearing life jackets, he also stated that there were life guards positioned in these waterways to ensure that waterways policies were followed.
The LASWA boss said that many canoes plying the waterways, especially those from riverine communities, were not monitored by LASWA, a reason why many of them did not use life jackets.
He added that the government did not have enough manpower to monitor them, moreover, as the economic viability of such areas were lean.
Marinho further disclosed that in the next few weeks another set of 2,400 life jackets would be distributed to boat operators, while another set of 1,800 would be distributed for the use of school children in riverine areas.
General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, appealed to those using the waterways to always put on life jackets in order to reduce accident on our waterways
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