National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has decried the disregard for safety guidelines on water transportation by local residents.
The General Manager (Business Development) at NIWA, Olawale Adetola, stated this in an interview, while reacting to the recent boat accident in Niger State that claimed 27 lives.
“Well, let me first express the authorities’ condolences to the people of Niger about this recent boat accident. We are tired of hearing all these fatalities coming through boat accidents.
“We are doing all we can as an authority to make sure that things like this don’t happen. We’ve done enlightenment and sensitisation of all boat operators to be safety conscious while using their boats on water.
“We have distributed life jackets to protect lives in case of this kind of accident. But by and large, people don’t adhere to the safety regulation that we have put in place,” Adetola said on Thursday.
He said that some of those rescued from the Niger boat accident survived because they wore life jackets, while other survivors clung to them.
“I believe what must have caused this accident is still under investigation, but from the look of things, I think the boat ran into a log or a hard object in the water.
“And, for the people that were rescued, it was due to the fact that they wore a life jacket, and for some people who didn’t wear one, we were told that they attached themselves to the people who wore the life jacket; that was why some of them were rescued,” he explained.
Adetola, who disclosed that the official death toll remained 27 as of Thursday, said that the agency would go ahead with the investigation and the rescue effort.
He further stated that NIWA was considering setting up community safety committees to strengthen enlightenment among local residents.
At least 27 people were confirmed dead in a boat accident that occurred at Gausawa, along the Malale–Kainji Lake route in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
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