Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has sympathized
with victims of the recent boat mishap that claimed the lives of passengers who
were indigenes of Kogi State.Ododo who expressed sadness over the boat accident
said he was particularly concerned that most of the victims were women, petty
traders and artisans who are involved in legitimate business activities to earn
a living and contribute to the economy of the state.
At least 54 bodies have now been recovered from the
River Niger after a boat that may have been carrying more than 200 passengers,
capsized in the early hours of Friday.
Twenty-four of those on board were rescued, some of
whom were still in hospital, but dozens of others missing.
Divers were still searching the waters but hope is
fading on the possibility of finding more survivors.This is just the latest in
a long series of boat accidents on the country’s inland waterways. Despite
safety recommendations being made, rules were rarely followed and few were held
accountable.The boat was travelling from Kogi state to a weekly market in
neighbouring Niger state when it went down.Market traders and farm labourers
were thought to have been among the passengers.The cause of the accident was
not yet known but there were indications that many of the travellers may not
have been wearing life jackets as required.Getting accurate details about who
exactly had boarded the boat is difficult because there was no record keeping,
an official in charge said.“The problem is that there’s no passenger manifest
and because of the time the accident occurred, giving an accurate account of
persons, survivors and those missing, is very difficult,” Justin Uche, who is
head of the Kogi state office of the National Emergency Management Agency
said.Meanwhile Kogi state governor has ordered all hospitals where survivors
were receiving treatment to ensure that they get adequate care including
food.He urged stricter enforcement of safety regulations to ensure that such
incidents are avoided in future.The governor noted that the waterway linking
Kogi and Niger state was becoming increasingly dangerous as a result of
frequent boat accidents and called on relevant authorities to ensure that
safety measures are put in place to minimize risks associated with water
transportation in the country.Ododo who commended NIWA for its efforts in
search and rescue operation, called for concerted efforts through inter-agency
collaboration to prevent cases of waterways accidents and to enhance emergency
response management.This is the third time a passenger boat has gone down in
Nigeria in the last 60 days.Last month, a wooden dugout canoe, packed with
nearly 300 passengers, overturned and sank in the middle of the River Niger
killing nearly 200 people.Just last week, five people died when two boats
collided in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.The Managing Director of NIWA, Bola
Oyebamiji, said the boat capsized in the waters of Ebe community in Kupa South
Local Government Area of Kogi in the early hours of Friday.“Preliminary
findings by NIWA indicate that the wooden boat was travelling to the Katcha
market in Niger State when it suddenly went under due to poor visibility and
overloading.“There are no details of lives lost so far.“The wooden craft,
operated by an unknown boat operator, left with an unsubstantiated number of
passengers, from an abandoned jetty at 1:00a.m. on Friday morning with intent
to beat NIWA’s tight surveillance on waterways.“To unravel the cause of the
accident, NIWA has set up an investigation panel to ascertain the real cause of
the accident, the total number of passengers onboard and the owner of the
craft,” he said.He added that the top management team of NIWA was leading and
coordinating the rescue operations as well as making sure that survivors of the
boat mishap would receive urgent medical attention.He said that NIWA would, in
due course, release more information on the incident.
Comments:
Leave a Reply