A boat captain, of a W19 fiber passenger boat, carrying 16 passengers which went under in the Ojo axis from Mile to ibeshe village, has been declared wanted by the National Inland Waterways Authority, lagos area office for sailing outside the office hours.
At about 7.45 yesterday, the 8th of July 2022, The National Inland Waterways Authority and Lagos State waterways authority received a distress call of an incident on the waterways.
A W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people people capsized along the Ojo area of the state.
The Boat going from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7.45pm.As he set out, the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused the boat to overturn. It is said that all passengers on board which includes children were not all putting on their life jackets.
The Search and Rescue team of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), National Inland Waterways (NIWA) and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) were immediately mobilized to the scene of the incident but unfortunately could only find the boat after several hours while efforts are still ongoing to locate the victims.
The Boat is currently in the custody of Marine Police. The Boat Captain is also unaccounted for as at the time of this press statement, according to
Engr Sarat Braimah, Area manager, Niwa lagos.