Private ferry operators at Majidun in Ikorodu, near Lagos yesterday suspended their services, following the tragic boat mishap on the Lagos Lagoon on Wednesday.
The operators took the action to mourn those who lost their lives in the incident.
The ill-fated boat, owned by Bell Marine Company, which had about 28 passengers on board, broke up and sank in the Majidun River in Ikorodu.
Private ferry operators at Majidun in Ikorodu, near Lagos yesterday suspended their services, following the tragic boat mishap on the Lagos Lagoon on Wednesday.
The operators took the action to mourn those who lost their lives in the incident.
The ill-fated boat, owned by Bell Marine Company, which had about 28 passengers on board, broke up and sank in the Majidun River in Ikorodu.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had confirmed earlier that eight out of the passengers had died, while 20 others were said to have been rescued and that six people had yet to be accounted for.
A similar incident had occurred barely three weeks ago when a canoe capsized on a canal at 4th Avenue, 42 Road, FESTAC Town, Lagos, resulting to the death of about 18 passengers.
More than 30 ferry boats were idle on the shores of the Majidun River.
Also, hundreds of intending passengers who usually patronised the private boats at the Majidun Jetty trekked to other neighbouring jetties at Ibeshe, Baiyeku and Ijede to board boats to Lagos.
Some of the commuters lamented that the boat mishap would have been avoided if necessary precautionary measures were taken by the ferry operators.
Miss Claire Uche, a school leaver, who working on Lagos Island, said that the operators were “just being non-challant in their attitude.
“Some of the life jackets they gave us were not good. There were some that were stuffed with ordinary foam.
“Yesterday, for instance, some people, despite wearing the life jackets, could not stay afloat when the mishap occurred.
“I am even scared now to board this boat because I don’t know what can happen. I don’t know whether I will be given a bad jacket.
“For me, I don’t know a good life jacket and I don’t know a bad one. I don’t know a good boat, and I don’t know a bad boat.
“It will make a lot of difference if the Lagos State Government can establish agencies whose sole duty will be to inspect these boats and the life jackets inside them before they take off from the jetties.
“There should be various checkpoints on the Lagoon so that there can be quicker response if this sort of mishap happens,’’she said.
Another commuter who witnessed the rescue effort but did not want to mention his name, said he had a traumatic experience.
“There was this man who used his slippers to remain afloat as he swam toward a group of fishermen in order to be saved.
“The only thing I know about the incident is over speeding. It happened around 5.30 p.m.
“ The boat took off from Ebute-Ero. At least as at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 passengers including a pregnant woman had been rescued.
“But I learnt this morning that the woman had passed on.”
He blamed the boat’s captain for the mishap, saying that some of them often failed to take to corrections from passengers.
“As at yesterday morning when the boat was leaving Majidun, some passengers told the captain that water was percolating into the boat but he ignored the advice.
“So later in the evening, after the boat had taken off from Ebute-Ero around 5.30 p.m., the captain kept speeding, despite the high wave.
“It was this that caused the boat to break into two and sink. So, those in the front were those that were rescued.
“But it was the fishermen on the lagoon then that really saved the situation.”
Discussion about this post