BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
The death toll from the boat accident that occurred on Saturday around the Mile 2 area of Lagos state has hit 17.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the development on Sunday.
Ibrahim Farinloye, zone coordinator, south-west NEMA, said 13 more bodies have been recovered.
“Late yesterday night, two more bodies were recovered in addition to the two earlier recovered in the morning,” he said.
“With this, it has become a total of 17 bodies recovered.”
Farinloye said the search and rescue operation has ended, adding that illegal boat operators plying the waterways beyond the stipulated official hours led to the “avoidable deaths”.
He said the act was a violation of the regulations of the waterways guidelines for operators.
“It was revealed that the regulatory bodies have tried to stamp out illegal operations of small boat operators who hardly use life jackets after official hours,” he said.
“But they do not heed to regulations put in place to stop them.
“It was also observed that wooden boats are not permitted to be used as passenger boat.
“But it is only at this odd hour that illegal operators always put the lives of unsuspecting passengers at risk.”
He said efforts are on to address the gaps with all stakeholders such as the Nigerian navy’s special boat service, the Association of Boat/Ferry Operators of Nigeria and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), among others.
The accident, which occurred on Friday night, came barely three days after a boat accident around the Ikorodu area led to the death of two passengers.
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