According to preliminary investigations into the Kwara boat tragedy, the vessel was “heavily overloaded carrying over 250 persons including luggage” and “the people were not wearing life jackets” as they traveled in the middle of the night at around 2:30 a.m.
Last Monday’s boat disaster in Kwara State’s Patigi Local Government Area claimed 107 lives, while 146 people were injured.
Speaking to journalists in Ilorin after leading a delegation to assess the situation in Patigi communities over the weekend, NIWA Managing Director, Dr. George Moghalu, said preliminary investigations revealed the causes of the incident and vowed that all indicted persons would face punishment.
Moghalu stated that there have been cases where boat operators have been arrested, imprisoned, and their vessels have been confiscated or destroyed because they are not river-worthy.
He expressed regret that not all vessel operators were licensed or registered, and stated that the organization would continue to register vessel operators to protect the safety of waterways.
Moghalu, who said that investigations on the Kwara boat mishap was still ongoing, said, “It was a rainy night. The rain came with wind. Apart from the rain increasing the water level, the wind was moving and forcing the both left and right and then smashed the boat against a tree. These are some of the issue that came out in the course of our preliminary investigations. Meanwhile, there is still a lot going on to forestall future occurrence.”
He further stated that the analysis revealed that 90% of water-related accidents happen at night or extremely early in the morning. “Most of these vessels don’t have night navigational aids, making the movement a risky venture. The vessel carried passengers five times more than what it should,” he stated.
The NIWA managing director stated that the organization was determined to follow standard operating procedures using a set of operational rules, and that it would utilize local enforcement agents made up of adolescents to police the security guidelines at all times.
“A team to assess environmental impact assessment of the incident would come to the area in order to determine provision of either jetty or ramp to improve movement in the area. Part of our responsibility is to ensure security and safety of the people.
“Part of the message to the people is that you cannot operate your vessel after 6:00 pm. The operational time is between 6:00am and 6:00pm. They should wear life jackets before entering any vessel. The vessel must not be overloaded. We would be using local media, traditional and religious institutions and community stakeholders to pass the message across to the people. We will also continue training of operators to standardize operation all over the country.”
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The NIWA leader, who stated that the organization shared the people’s grief over what he termed as preventable fatalities, also stated that President Bola Tinubu was deeply concerned about the situation.
He also stated that the President had ordered an investigation into the incident to determine exactly what occurred in order to prevent a recurrence.
