Regulators, lapses in safety measures blamed for boat mishaps

The second half of 2022 began on a bloody note when two female passengers drowned in the first week of July after their boat, a 20-seater boat, departed Ipakodo ferry terminal in Ikorodu early Wednesday morning, and capsized almost immediately after take-off.

Also in July, seven individuals were killed when a 20-passenger boat that had departed from Ijede in the Ikorodu region and was headed for Badore in Ajah capsized.

One person was killed in a boat accident that happened recently in Ikorodu when two boats collided, and four people were killed in a boat accident that happened recently in the Badagry region of the state.

While a total of 17 bodies have been brought out from the water since the last incident, many waterways users have been expressing fears that safety levels on the Lagos waterways are gradually being compromised.

Boat accidents are not peculiar to Lagos as accidents were recorded in other states in the country. One of such was in Sokoto State which claimed 28 lives. Others happened in Bayelsa, Niger, Kano, Kebbi, and Rivers. Also, in 2020, about 350 lives were lost to boat accidents in the country.

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Indeed, several boat mishaps in the Lagos waterways are linked to unsafe practices by boat operators, allegedly due to little investment by the Lagos State government on water transportation.

Findings reveal that many of the boats plying the waterways are operated by quacks, untrained in basic safety measures. According to an observer, “The quack boat operators are as reckless as the notorious untrained commercial bus drivers plying Lagos roads.”

This is why many passengers will be seen without safety jackets or seen wearing old and worn out ones. There are also no viable emergency rescue measures in place, while a lot of security challenges confront inland water transportation in the state.

A regular boat passenger from the Origin jetty in Ikorodu to Sandfill in Victoria Island revealed that the major challenge facing water transportation business in Lagos today is the lack of adequate control on the waterways.

He said the frequent boat accidents in Lagos are due to non-enforcement of the laws that guide water transportation in the country.

He noted that the operators are less concerned about safety and are operating based on their whims and caprices, while there is also the challenge of limited awareness about safety among passengers who, he said, cannot even recognise poorly organised boat services.

A boat operator and General Manager, Sea Coach Boat Company, Mr Bolaji Alaka, also stressed the need for regulation on Lagos waterways in order to avert incessant accidents.

When contacted officials of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) revealed that most accidents happened when operators flouted government’s regulations.

READ ALSO: 2 Die, 15 rescued in Lagos boat mishap

Speaking on the issue, Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel said boat accidents were avoidable and caused by wrecks and impediments, fishermen nets, night trips, speeding, faulty engines and steering system, dredgers’ (Shoaling) actions,  bad weather, negligence and deliberate flouting of safety rules by the boat operators.

He said, “We have developed and will continue implementing the waterways safety code, sensitisation, advocacy, certification, training and retraining of boat/ferry crew in line with the international convention on standards of training, certification, and watch-keeping for seafarers 2010, certification and monitoring of local boat builders production process in line with international best practices.”

He advised water passengers to insist on wearing life jackets before embarking on a trip, adding that no boat should leave a jetty without commuters wearing life jackets because one could stay afloat with it before rescue agents come in case of an accident.

He said at the moment inland waterways service deployed more ferry boats, especially to the North to reduce loss of lives, partnering with private boat transport owners to invest in the ferry services to reduce road decongestion.